
Glass-J^ _ 
Book 







ITS PRODUCTS 
RESOURCES 



WHAT IT OFFERS 
THE IMMIGRANT, 
HOMESEEKER, 
INVESTOR AND 
TOURIST * 



INDUSTRIES AND 
ATTRACTIONS 



Published by the 

CALIFORNIA. ALASKA- YUKON 
EXPOSITION COMMISSION 



COMMISSION: 

GOV. J. N. GILLETT, J. A. FILCHER, FRANK WIGGINS 



EDITED BY 

T. G. DANIELLS 

i 



W. W. SHANNON 



SACRAMENTO 

5UPE.RINTLNDF.NT 5TATL PRINTING 
1909 



.C\S- 



CONTENTS. 



HISTORICAL -------- 3 

TOPOGRAPHY - - - ----- -7. .4. Flicker - - - 7 

CLIMATE - - - N. P. Ckipman - - 17 

THE TRIUMPH OF IRRIGATION William E. Smythe - 20 

MINING IN CALIFORNIA - - - - - Lewis E. Auburn 29 

AGRICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA Arthur R. Briggs - - 35 

HORTICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA - - E. J. Wickson - 41 

THE CITRUS FRUIT INDUSTRY OF CALI- 
FORNIA - - - - B. A. Woodford - - 5S 

RAISIN GROWING IN CALIFORNIA - - D. A. Allison 63 

THE FIG IN CALIFORNIA - George C. Roeding - 6S 

THE OLIVE IN CALIFORNIA - George C. Roeding 74 

CALIFORNIA WINES - - - - Percy T. Morgan 79 

SPECIALIZING IN THE DAIRY BUSINESS - Wm. H. Savior - 82 

POULTRY RAISING IN CALIFORNIA - - L. G. Byce 85 

THE HONEY INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA - George L. Emerson 92 

CATTLE-RAISING IN CALIFORNIA - Peter J. Shields - 94 

THE FISHES OF CALIFORNIA - - - David Starr Jordan - 101 

THE LUMBER INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA E. J. Holt 106 

COMMERCIAL -------- - George C. Perkins - 116 

EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES IN CALIFORNIA Robert Furlong - 122 

MORAL AND RELIGIOUS LIFE IN CALI- 
FORNIA --------- Charles R. Brown - 126 

OUTDOOR LIFE OF CALIFORNIA - William Greer Harrison 132 

CALIFORNIA'S RESORTS ----- w. N. Wright - - 138 

TRAVELING IN CALIFORNIA ----- W. N. Wright - - 145 

THE THIRTY-FIRST STATE - - - Rufus P. Jennings - 150 

SAN FRANCISCO— THE REBUILT METROP- 
OLIS ---------- Norman F. D'Evelgn - 154 

PAST AND PRESENT OF THE FRANCISCAN 

MISSIONS OF CALIFORNIA - - - - J. R. Knowland - - 164 

CALIFORNIA'S CALL TO THE IMMIGRANT John P. Irish - 172 

n. of o. 



CALIFORNIA 



Its Products, Resources, Industries and 

Attractions. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 



Many and diverse are the elements which have gone into the making 
of the "Golden State." Strangely different actors have played their 
part and left their impress. The country itself and its aboriginal 
inhabitants were long a source of attraction to the Spanish conquerors. 
In 1536, Cortes and his followers superficially inspected Lower Cali- 
fornia. They likened the land to the famous island of Amazons, 
described in the old Spanish romance, ' ' Sergas de Espladian, ' ' in which 
the author speaks of "the great island of California, where an abun- 
dance of gold and precious stones is found. ' ' With the inherent poesy 
of the Spanish race they named the territory California. 

In 1542, Cabrillo sailed along the coast, and over a century later 
Viscaino explored it, mapping the bays of San Diego and Monterey. 
Sir Francis Drake, Queen Elizabeth's daring buccaneer, in cruising 
the Pacific for Spain's treasure ships, discovered, in 1579, the bay which 
bears his name. He called the land "New Albion." 

Spain's desire for new possessions and the missionary zeal of the 
Franciscans under the leadership of Father Junipero Serra led to the 
colonization of California in 1768. This fervid religious enthusiast, 
and Jose Galvez, visitador-general to Mexico from Spain, fitted out 
four expeditions which set out by land and sea. The vicissitudes of 
travel were many. Finally, the travelers reached San Diego, and on 
July 16, 1769, they founded the mission of that name. Despite their 
exhausted condition, a detachment was sent northward to find the bay 
of Monterey, which had been mapped out by Viscaino. It was this 
party that missed its objective point and found instead the important 
bay of San Francisco. This discovery led to the establishment of the 
mission of San Francisco, in the year our national independence was 
declared. 



4 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

By the end of 1823, when the last and most northerly mission had 
been planted at Sonoma, these religions houses had grown to twenty-one 
in number and had acquired great wealth in olive, orange and grape 
plantations and herds of cattle and horses. The Indians were converted 
to Christianity, weaned from their barbaric and nomadic state, and 
induced to lead a settled life. The Spanish government established a 
presidio, or military station, near each mission. The pueblos, also a 
sort of adjunct to the missions, were towns established to promote the 
settlement of the country. They maintained local and civil government 
independent of church or military rule. To Californians of the present 
day, the missions are memorials of the older civilization which keep 
alive the continuity of historic interest. The ruined buildings are a 
source of inspiration to artists and the motif for much of the domestic, 
civic and religious architecture of modern California. 

As the years rolled on, explorers of different nationalities now and 
again touched at points along the coast, but only the Russians estab- 
lished a settlement, which, however, was abandoned after a short period. 

The political status was much altered when, in 1822, the many revolu- 
tionary upheavals in Mexico culminated in her proclamation of inde- 
pendence from Spain. The new republican government was unfavor- 
able to the Church, and the Mexican congress enacted a law providing 
for the dispersion of the Franciscan fathers of California and a division 
of their vast principalities among the settlers and the Indians. Soon 
after this the secularization of the missions began. They were 
stripped of their wealth ; the buildings were neglected, the Indians 
scattered, and the ownership of the land fell to the lot of the Mexican 
rancheros. These were mostly of Spanish lineage, whose principal 
occupation was the raising of cattle for hides and tallow. They were, 
on the whole, a simple, kindly and unprogressive people, much given to 
picturesque apparel, gay colors and fiestas. They rode a great deal, 
visited one another frequently, enjoyed many sports, music and dancing, 
lived to a ripe old age, and had very large families. These were the 
days of boundless hospitality, when every stranger was welcome at 
the haciendas and became a guest for as long as he chose to remain. 
Those patriarchal times of the "idle forties" — how they vanished upon 
the advent of the gringo — the stranger from across the plains ! 

By 1846 a number of Americans had found their way to the new 
territory. They had come as trappers and traders, and were men of 
valor and sturdiness — the heralds of Anglo-Saxon supremacy. A spirit 
of local independence developed rapidly among them. This led to 
jealousy of Mexican control and bitter political feuds between rival 
factions around Monterey in the north and Los Angeles in the south. 

About this time the attention of the United States Government began 
to be stronglv attracted toward California, and the French and the 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. .) 

English were looking in this direction with a view to possibly taking 
possession of the country. 

All the circumstances connected with the seizing of California will 
probably never be known. It appears, however, that the authorities at 
Washington, having determined on a Avar with Mexico, and being fully 
aware of the importance to the United States of an extension of terri- 
tory to the Pacific, resolved to take possession of California, so that 
after the termination of the war this country would become a part of the 
Union. At all events, Fremont, while engaged in conducting a scientific 
expedition on the Pacific coast, received in May, 1846. verbal instruc- 
tions from an officer dispatched from Washington. He at once made 
his way to Sutter's Fort, then to Sonoma, where he organized a battalion 
of mounted riflemen and prepared to make war against the Mexicans. 
On the 14th of June, 1846, a party of Americans took possession of the 
town of Sonoma and raised the Bear Flag. On the 5th of July follow- 
ing, this Bear Flag party declared their independence, made Fremont 
governor and issued a formal declaration of war. Two days afterwards 
Commodore Sloat, under orders from the United States Government, 
seized Monterey, and Captain Montgomery raised the American flag in 
San Francisco. The conquest was completed by Commodore Stockton 
and General Kearny. By the treaty with Mexico in 1848, California 
became American territory. 

Upon its acquisition, United States revenue laws were extended over 
the territory and San Francisco made a port of entry, but no further 
progress was made toward creating a government. The discussion as to 
what should be done with California began in Congress in 1846, and the 
question of slavery or no slavery was at once raised. When it became 
American territory the question of its admission into the Union was 
counted as one of supreme importance. There were fifteen free states 
and fifteen slave states, which resulted in an equal division of power 
in the Senate. The addition of the sixteenth free state would turn the 
scale and mark the beginning of a preponderance of free-state power in 
Congress. Against this, resistance on the part of the South was almost 
desperate. A furious conflict was waged between the oratorical giants 
of Congress, but nothing concluded. 

The dilatoriness was most harassing to Californians. who soon realized 
that a state organization was the plan best calculated to supply a gov- 
ernment to the embryo commonwealth. In accordance with this con- 
viction the people, in 1849, framed a constitution which forbade slavery. 
On the 9th of September of the following year, without having gone 
through any novitiate as a territory, California sprang into full being 
as a commonwealth and was admitted to the sisterhood of states. 

An important era dates from the discovery of gold at Sutter's mill, 
on January 24. 1848. The news that gold had been found sped to the 



6 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

most distant parts of the world. A great tide of migration swept west- 
ward, and the vast Pacific was covered with the sailing craft of all 
nations. That historic body of gold-seekers — the Argonauts — arrived 
in 1849. Many of these journeyed with ox teams across the plains and 
struggled through the Sierras, braving the famine and horror of the 
desert and the perils of predatory Indians. Women and children 
shared with men the privations of the overland trail. Simultaneous 
with the coming of the overland contingent, ships were fitted out for 
the long voyage around Cape Horn, and steamers were put on to carry 
people by way of Panama. The majority of the newcomers were young, 
unmarried men of brawn and vigor, contemptuous of obstacles and reck- 
less of life. They had the qualities which made them fit to do battle 
with and to overcome wild man and nature. They came with one idea — 
to get rich quickly and return home. The scramble for gold lasted until 
the mountains and gulches had been scratched over and a decline in gold 
production had set in. Then those who came to mine remained to till. 
The pick and the shovel gave way to the plow and the hoe. Instead of 
golden nuggets, the earth was made to yield a harvest of golden grain. 
This was the beginning of the great wheat-planting era, before the ver- 
satility of California's soil had been demonstrated. The completion of 
the transcontinental railroad in 1869 furthered the prosperity of the 
State and gave an impetus to the immigration of home-builders. 

California's second "gold" discovery — the navel orange — dates from 
the seventies. Like Marshall's find, it was the magnet to draw to the 
State thousands of strangers. These, unlike the first-comers, were 
colonists who brought with them their household goods and set up their 
homes, laid out orange groves, and awaited results. 

The orange was the incentive to other horticultural discoveries, and 
to-day California has no equal among the states, nor indeed, among the 
countries of the world, in horticultural possibilities. It has more acres 
in grapes than New England has in corn, and it produces more wine 
than all the rest of the Union put together. Its beet sugar is a formi- 
dable rival to the cane product of tropic lands. It exports raisins to 
Spain, prunes to Germany and France, and will soon take the fig trade 
of the world from Smyrna. 

In comparison with the other states of the Union, California ranks 
second in area, twenty-first in population, and eighteenth in order of 
admission. Its coast line, measured in all its sinuosities, is nearly one 
thousand miles in length, and its eastern boundary conforms to the 
curve of the seacoast, so that its breadth is approximately the same 
throughout, averaging about two hundred miles. The total land area is 
155.980 square miles. 



TOPOGRAPHY. 



TOPOGRAPHY. 



By J. A. FILCHER, 
California Commissioner to the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. 



In its topography California is distinct and striking. Two ranges 
of mountains practically inclose a great interior basin or valley. On 
the east is the high Sierra range, on the summits of which snow remains 
all the year; on the west is the low Coast Range, which gathers snow 
enough occasionally during the winter months to whiten its highest 




YELLOW ASTER GOLD MINE, RANDSBDRG, KERN COUNTY. 

points a few days at a time. These mountain ranges converge at 
Mount Shasta in the north, and again at Tehachapi in the south. The 
great valley lying between them is one expanse of practically level 
territory, from 500 to 600 miles long and from 40 to 60 miles wide. The 
northern portion is drained by the Sacramento River and its tributaries, 
and is called the Sacramento Valley. The southern portion is drained 
by the San Joaquin River and its tributaries, and is called the San 
Joaquin Valley. These rivers empty into San Francisco Bay, and the 



10 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

Golden Gate is their common outlet to the sea. The eastern boundary 
line of the State follows closely the summit of the Sierras, and on the 
western or California side the decline is very gradual, forming an 
immense watershed, embracing the gold mining region of the State, 
vast forests of superior commercial timber, and in the lower altitudes, 
where less rugged, the great Sierra foothill fruit belt. 




VERNAL FALLS, YOSEMITE VALLEY. 

The Coast Range consists of different spurs, and between these are 
valleys of greater or less dimensions that are exceedingly fertile. Among 
the most noted of these valleys north of San Francisco Bay are Sonoma 
Valley, Napa Valley, Vaca Valley, and Ukiah Valley. Near Clear Lake 
is what is known as Scott's Valley, very productive, but of higher alti- 
tude. South of San Francisco Bay, not counting the many small and 
very fertile valleys in Contra Costa and Alameda counties, are Santa 



TOPOGRAPH V. 



11 



Clara Valley, Pajaro Valley, Salinas Valley, Santa Maria Valley, and 
several other extremely rich but smaller valleys in San Luis Obispo and 
northern Santa Barbara counties. South of the Tehachapi range, which 
terminates the great San Joaquin Valley, is what is commonly known 
as Southern California. This part of the State is more or less broken 
by low mountains, but the region between them and the seacoast is 
extensive, and this and the valleys lying between the different mountain 
ranges are noted for a bountiful yield of every semi-tropic and other 
product that has helped to make California famous. 




TOWN AND SOME OF THE OIL WELLS OF McKITTRICK OIL FIELDS, 

KERN COUNTY. 

Back of the mountains in Southern California lies the Mojave desert. 
On this desert, where water has been developed, plant products have 
proven profitable ; otherwise it presents to the eye a great expanse of 
unbroken sterility. This desert and the mountains that are too steep for 
cultivation embrace about 60,000,000 acres, or three fifths of the total 
area of the State, leaving about 40,000,000 acres, or two fifths of the 
area of the State, that is arable. Thus is the topography of California 
briefly outlined. 

The coast trend of the State being northwest and southeast, presents 
a right angle front to the Japan or equatorial current that ever comes 
up from the southwest to lave its shores. It is this warm current that 




VIEW FROM MOUNT TAMALPAIS. 



14 



CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



gives California its temperate and equable climate, and it is this current 
that gives to the entire State, north, south, and central, the same gen- 
eral average temperature at points of the same altitude and the same 
distance from the sea. 

It is the topography of California that diversifies its climate more 
than latitude. Mountain ranges afford different altitudes, and altitude 




MARIPOSA BIG TREE GROVE. 

affects temperature. These same ranges govern the air currents, and 
these again have a bearing on the climate. On the coast, where the sum- 
mer sea breezes are ever present, the temperature is greatly modified, 
and the atmosphere is refreshing. By reason of the cooler summers on 
the coast, the seasons are more backward. It is in the warmer vales on 
the eastern or valley side of the Coast Range, or on the sunny slopes 
of the Sierra foothills, above the fogs and below the snow, and in the 



TOPOGRAPHY. 



L5 



sheltered valleys of the south, that the earliest of California's products 
are grown. The entire Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, being 
sheltered from sea breezes by the Coast Range, present an early field, 
but not so early as the foothills of the Sierra, or the sheltered vales of 
Central or Southern California. These facts are mentioned as inter- 
esting to the prospective producer, since the earliest fruits and vege- 
tables are generally the most profitable. In this connection it may be 
stated that a new mark (or date) for California's earliest fruits is 




THE WHALEBACK, CLOUDY CANYON TRAIL TO KERN CANYON. 

promised by the products from the irrigated desert, which are becoming 
gradually more extensive. 

Enough of the sea breezes blow through the Golden Gate to affect the 
temperature of the great interior valleys by evening, and it is this influ- 
ence which gives to them the delightful characteristic of cool summer 
nights. While the soils of the valleys and sloping hills are generally 
rich in the elements that go to make plant life, in some portions the soil 
is richer and more productive than in others. These differences, as well 
as the air currents that affect the temperature, have their bearing on 
vegetation, and especially on the fruit of the plant, and they are sub- 
jects that have to be studied by the farmer and the horticulturist. 

Temperature and soil elements affect not only production, but espe- 



16 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

cially the quality of the product, and they must be considered by the 
producer. A luscious grape, for instance, can be grown almost any- 
where below a certain altitude in California; but the grape of the 
warm interior would have too much sugar for a light dry table 
wine, while the grape of the cooler bay counties would not have sugar 
enough for a good raisin. Hence we must grow our dry wines in the 
cool bay counties and our sweet wines and raisins in the warmer inte- 
rior. Dry, warm weather is essential also for successfully curing raisins, 
and hence Fresno and adjoining counties in the heart of the great San 
J oaquin Valley, where soil and climate conditions are ideal, have become 
the great raisin center of the State. Again, with the Tokay table grape 
color is an essential selling quality; it is, therefore, important to plant 
these grapes where there is plenty of iron or coloring matter in the 
soil. This is also true of peaches. For this reason the red iron soil of 
the Sierra foothills region is commanding attention as the field for the 
production of the best of these products. 

These are instances, but they serve to suggest caution in the selection 
of locality for any particular production. Prunes grow to large size 
and are generally successful throughout the great interior orchard sec- 
tions of the State ; but the best prunes, those which in thinness of skin, 
smallness of pit, texture of flesh and delicacy of flavor come nearest 
the ideal, are grown in the valleys of the Coast Range. Thus, Santa 
Clara Valley enjoys more fame from its primes than has the county by 
reason of its possession of the Lick Obervatory or the Stanford Uni- 
versity. 

Again, the foothills, so well adapted to peaches, table grapes, pears 
and certain varieties of plums, are not the best place for apricots. This 
fruit requires a deep, rich loam, and hence the river bottom land of the 
interior valleys and the deep, dark soil of the Coast Range valleys and 
around San Francisco Bay can be depended on for the thriftiest trees 
and the best crops. Citrus fruits require a deep, rich soil and a con- 
genial climate, warm in the summer and not too cold in the winter. The 
winter in San Francisco would not hurt an orange tree, yet the summer 
is too cool for the proper development of the fruit; hence San Fran- 
cisco and adjacent coast country are not practically within the Califor- 
nia citrus belt. 

Nearly all the arable regions of Southern California have conditions 
favorable to citrus fruit production, and it is here nearly all the oranges 
and lemons are at present grown, yet the Sierra foothills and the San 
Joaquin and Sacramento valleys, where soil conditions are favorable, 
are extending their groves and adding each year to their output of this 
staple California fruit. 

It is said the olive will grow anywhere, even on impoverished soil, 



CLIMATE. 1 I 

but experience has shown that, like all other fruit, it appreciates good 
soil, and responds generously to good care. 

There is much in soil and temperature in California and the adapt- 
ability of certain conditions for the best results in certain lines of 
products which the oldest or wisest inhabitant has not yet satisfactorily 
solved; but enough is known, as the result of extensive and expensive 
experiments, to suggest to the novice, or the newcomer, that he must 
exercise care in selecting a location for the pursuit of any particular 
line of husbandry. He may do fairly well in almost any line, almost 
anywhere, but what he should endeavor to learn is the locality in which 
he can do better in his particular line than he could do elsewhere. Ask 
questions, observe what others are doing, and make comparisons — this 
is the quickest, easiest, and safest way to learn the truth. 



CLIMATE. 



By HON. N. P. CHIPMAN, 

Justice of the Appellate Court. 



California's most valued asset is her climate. Herein lies the chief 
reason for her world-wide fame. Other states have rich lands, extensive 
forests, great mineral wealth, navigable waters by sea and by river, and 
are blessed with picturesque and notable mountain scenery, in all of 
which respects California stands preeminent ; but if we take from Cali- 
fornia her climate and substitute for it that of the country lying to the 
east of the Sierras, the State would at once lose its distinguishing char- 
acteristic, its unique feature and its highest claim to superiority'. I may 
in the strongest possible way give emphasis to the fact that nowhere 
else on the American continent are such remarkable conditions to be 
found. If we cross the Siskiyou Mountains northward, or the Sierras 
into Nevada, or journey into Arizona or New Mexico, we pass out of 
the zone which, through climatic influences, nature has set apart in a 
class by itself. 

The more one studies the climatology of California, the more will he 
hecome convinced that its climate is of exceptional diversity and 
peculiarity. He will find, too, a fact so difficult to force upon the 
Eastern mind — that the valleys and coast of the northern, central and 
southern portions of the State possess substantially the same climate, 
viewed from an economic standpoint. That is to say, that substantially 
the same agricultural and horticultural products are found in latitudes 
seven hundred miles apart. 

The rainfall diminishes usually as we go south and increases as we 
ascend the mountains. The temperature of the interior points in the 
south differs but little (about one degree) from the mean in the interior 
valleys of the northern and central counties. 
2 



18 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

The highest and lowest temperatures are closely similar. A most 
striking illustration is found in Placer County. At Summit, there were 
(in 1907) over 66 inches of rainfall with 594 inches (49 feet) of snow, 
while at Rocklin, in the same county, there was no snow, 52.44 inches 
of rain, and the lowest temperature was 27 degrees above zero. Some 
very thrifty orange groves are around Rocklin. It is but two or three 
hours by rail from the point where our supply of natural ice is gathered 
to Auburn, Newcastle and Rocklin, whence some of our earliest fruits go 
to Eastern markets. 

Much the same comparative temperatures and conditions exist along 
the coast, although the coast climate softens and is more equable as we 
go south. Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and San Diego, for example, 
are mild and delightful. The trade winds in summer are harsher along 
the northern coast and fogs are more frequent than along the southern 
coast. A compensating economic advantage is found in the greater rain- 
fall and in the much longer continued and more luxuriant growth of 
natural grasses along the north coast. 

The lowest temperature recorded at any station in the State is 16 
degrees below zero at Tamarack (Alpine County), elevation 8,000 feet. 
At but few stations in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, along 
the coast or in Southern California is any snowfall recorded. The 
valleys of the interior occasionally have high temperatures, but the dry- 
ness of the atmosphere makes this less objectionable than an 85-degree 
temperature would be in the humid atmosphere of the Eastern States. 
The warm, dry air of the valleys favors early fruitage and rapid vege- 
table growth. The terms "winter" and "summer," as used elsewhere, 
have no application here; more properly the year is divided into "rainy 
season" (winter, November to April) and "dry season" (summer, rain- 
less). Latitude signifies but little in determining the readings of the 
thermometer and this is a peculiarity not found in corresponding lati- 
tudes in Europe or on the Atlantic coast in this country. This is proven 
by the fact that oranges are grown as far north as Shasta County. 
Orange groves flourish in Butte County, 650 miles north of Los Angeles. 
I. mention oranges only among our fruits, because the mind naturally 
associates the orange with a semi-tropic climate, and is willing to accept 
it as proof that where it grows must necessarily be a climate of excep- 
tional mildness. 

A peculiarity of the climate of California, and at the same time an 
evidence of its economic value, is the fact that on the same land in many 
parts of the great valley region we can grow the cereals and grasses 
and nearly every commercial fruit found in the State, and this is not 
true of any part of Italy or of any country around the Mediterranean. 
I do not say that it would be a necessary use of a single piece of land to 
devote it to so many different products, for even here we must study the 
better adaptation of land to particular uses; but as an evidence of the 
marvelous climate given us it is possible to grow almost every fruit to 
be found from the Baltic to the south of Italy and Spain on the same 
tract of land. 

Perhaps no single feature of California's climate is so closely asso- 
ciated with the production of wealth as that in the field, orchard, garden, 
factory, forest or mines, where every day may be a day of productive 
labor. Our farming and orchard activities never cease throughout 
the year, and rarely is there a day too inclement for comfortable work. 



CLIMATE. 19 

Then, too, not only may man find profitable employment each day, but 
Nature is at work uninterruptedly if aided by irrigation of the land. 
Our so-called winter months are months of active plant growth, and 
summer is a still more active period of growth, when the lack of rainfall 
is artificially supplied. There are many other economic advantages that 
must suggest themselves to the thoughtful and practical mind. Not 
least, the cost of living, where freezing weather is so rare and less cloth- 
ing and less fuel are required. 

We have reliable statistics reaching back over half a century, and 
beyond that the traditions of the country connecting the present period 
with the early Mission Fathers. No change in climate has been observed 
aside from the seasonable variations — no permanent change has occurred 
in rainfall or temperature. The natural conditions surrounding the 
State are immutable; these have established the law governing climate, 
and this latter must also ever be unchanging. 

It is a fact that California is an almost universal sanitarium. Of 
course local conditions, themselves removable, produce sickness in par- 
ticular places, but it is common experience that persons coming into 
almost any part of the State increase in weight and strength. Insomnia 
and nervous affections find alleviation here. Sunstroke is unknown. 
The coast climate is invigorating, stimulating and delightful. Some dis- 
comfort is experienced in the harvest field in the interior, but not so 
great as in climates of greater humidity. 

The great diversity of climate and the unique climatic conditions 
existing in the mountains, valleys and along the coast — to which may 
be added the scenic beauty of the landscape — give to life in California 
an indescribable charm. There is scarcely a farm home in all the valley 
regions of the State that does not look out upon great ranges of majestic 
mountains, more or less distant. The floral beauty of the uncultivated 
lands and the delightfully variegated landscape spread out before him 
are, to the farmer, a source of constant delight if he has any love for the 
beautiful in his nature. He may also go to the mountains or to the 
coast and enjoy an entire change of climate and pleasurable occupations 
in a few hours or a day. I have often thought how greatly blessed is 
he when compared with his brother on the monotonous plains of the 
great West, where the sun rises and sets in a nearby horizon, on a dead 
line with all the land around him. There is in California a joy in the 
mere living that compensates the loss of the pleasures which may be 
conceded to surround persons residing in States and countries of more 
advanced civilization than we at present, perhaps, enjoy. 



20 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

THE TRIUMPH OF IRRIGATION. 



By WILLIAM E. SMYTHE, 

Author of "The Conquest of Arid America." 



First of all, irrigation is not a substitute for rain. Rain is a substi- 
tute for irrigation, and a very poor one. Irrigation is an insurance 
policy on the crops. But it is far more. Irrigation is the mother of 
institutions ! 

An ideal place would be one where it never rains in the growing 
season, but where the genius of man, working in cooperation with 
favorable natural conditions, could direct the moisture just where and 
when it is needed, in accordance with the varying needs of different 
crops. This ideal condition is approximated in a large part of the arid 
region, including the major portion of California. 

The most striking effect of this ancient art, which has now become 
the inspiration of remarkable modern developments, is its social influ- 
ence. In this respect it revolutionizes the character of rural life. For 
irrigation means small farms; small farms mean near neighbors; and 
near neighbors imply high social advantages. The best examples of 
irrigation communities combine the most attractive features of town 
and country life. They give at the same time the benefits of neighbor- 
hood association and the independence that comes from living on the 
soil. The result is a high degree of equality such as is seldom realized 
elsewhere. In many a California colony the homes are as beautiful 
as in the famous suburbs of Boston and Philadelphia, and these beau- 
tiful homes belong to the many, while those in the suburbs of great 
Eastern cities represent the few who have succeeded better than the 
average. 

Irrigation is the great teacher of cooperation. Men are compelled 
to associate and organize in distributing water over their lands. From 
this experience it is easy to go forward to similar association in the 
sale of their products and the purchase of their supplies. For they 
soon learn that it is better to work with and for each other than against 
each other. This form of economic development is yet in its infancy, 
but is destined to extend in all directions and to have a very important 
influence on the future civilization of the irrigated region. 

The artificial control of moisture supplies the basis of absolutely 
scientific agriculture. The element of chance is wholly eliminated. 
Man asserts his control over the forces of nature. Among other desira- 
ble results, he gains the power of diversifying his crops to the utmost 
degree and thus becoming self-sufficient. With him, the rain does 
not fall upon the just and the unjust — that is to say, upon crops that 
need it and crops that do not need it. The strawberry vines may call 
for moisture in their own unmistakable language, and the call is 
promptly answered. The sugar-beets may crave only the uninterrupted 
sunshine in order that they may pack the largest possible amount of 



22 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

saccharine matter in their tiny cells, and the water is allowed to go 
singing past them. Thus, individuals and communities may become 
independent. National prosperity may pass and hard times come in 
its place, but the man who has a few acres of irrigated soil will continue 
to collect his living so long as water runs down hill and Mother Earth 
yields her increase. 

The most famous spots in California were evoked from desert or 
sheep-pasture by the miracle of irrigation. It does not follow that all 
parts of the State are worthless for agriculture or horticulture without it. 
But it is true, as Major John W. Powell said years ago, that "there is 
probably no acre of land in the United States the productive capacity 
of which would not be at least doubled by scientific irrigation." This 
is emphatically true of California, and the industry is being gradually 
extended into many localities which once proudly advertised that "no 
irrigation is needed." 

To those who are unfamiliar with it the actual process of irrigation 
seems a deep mystery. They regard it as an effort to overturn the laws 
of nature. The truth is that it is a perfectly natural process. The man 
who waters his plat of grass, and the woman who waters her dooryard 
pansies, are irrigators in a humble way. The citizen who grumbles at 
the sight of withered lawns in a public park during a dry summer 
yearns for irrigation without knowing it. 

The control of water for irrigation presents about the same problems 
to the engineer as the control of water for domestic purposes in large 
cities and towns. The water must be diverted from a flowing stream at 
a level high enough to command the territory to be irrigated ; or it must 
be impounded in reservoirs at a season of floods or unusual flow, such 
as occurs everywhere when the ice and snow are melting; or it must 
be sought in the bowels of the earth by means of wells and lifted to the 
surface by pumps, except in the case of artesian waters, which flow out 
of the mouth of the well by reason of their own pressure. 

The principal difference between securing a supply for domestic and 
for agricultural purposes is that in the case of the former the water 
must be as pure as possible, while in the case of the latter the impuri- 
ties which gather in ponds and streams have a distinct commercial 
value as fertilizers. The sewage of Paris is used for irrigation pur- 
poses with wonderful results, and the same thing is done in several 
Western cities, including Los Angeles. 

Irrigation works range from rude and simple ditches, taking their 
supplies from mountain brooks where the water has been diverted by 
means of small brush dams, to great masonry walls which block the 
outlet of deep canyons, holding back the water, which is thence trans- 
ported through pipes, flumes and cemented ditches to rich lands miles 
away. In the one case the works have been constructed by a small 
association of farmers, using their own labor and teams; in the other, 
millions of Eastern and foreign capital have been invested. In both 
cases water is led through main canals to central points in the territory 
to be reclaimed. These mains are of all sizes, depending entirely upon 
the volume of water required. From the mains lateral ditches reach 
out in various directions. The farmer taps the lateral with a shallow 
ditch, usually made with a plow, and thus conducts the water where 



THE TRIUMPH OF IRRIGATION. 23 

he wants it through his own private system of distributers. The man- 
agement of the water, when the system has once been perfected, is so 
simple that a child can attend to it. 

In the hands of the Indians and Mexicans of the southwest irrigation 
was a stagnant art, but the white population studied it with the same 
enthusiasm it bestowed upon electricity and new mining processes. 
The lower races merely knew that if crops were expected to grow on 
dry land they must be artifically watered. They proceeded to pour on 
the water by the rudest method. The Anglo-Saxon demanded to know 
why crops required water, and when it could be best supplied to meet 
their diverse needs. 

The earliest method of irrigation is known as "flooding," and is 
usually applied by means of shallow basins. A plot of ground near 
the river or ditch from which water is to be drawn is inclosed by low 
embankments called checks. These checks are multiplied until the 
whole field is covered. The water is then drawn to the highest basin, 
permitted to stand until the land is thoroughly soaked, and then drawn 
off by way of a small gate into the next basin. This process is repeated 
until the entire field is irrigated. This is the system practiced on the 
Nile, where the basins sometimes cover several square miles each, while 
in the West they are often no more than four hundred feet square. 

There is both a crude and a skillful way to accomplish the operation 
of flooding, and there is a wide difference in the results obtained by 
the two methods. Indian and Mexican irrigators seldom attempt to 
grade the surface of the ground. They permit water to remain in 
stagnant pools where there are depressions, while high places stand 
out as dusty islands for generations. All except very sandy soils bake 
in the hot sunshine after being flooded, and the crude way to remedy 
the matter is to turn on more water. Water in excess is an injury, 
and both the soil and the crops resent this method of treatment. 

The skillful irrigator grades the soil to an even slope of about one 
inch to every hundred inches, filling depressions and leveling high 
places. He "rushes" the water over the plot as rapidly as possible 
and, when the ground has dried sufficiently, cultivates the soil thor- 
oughly, thus allowing the air to penetrate it. The best irrigators have 
abandoned the check system altogether and invented better methods of 
flooding, the crops. Cereals and grasses must always be irrigated by 
flooding, but the check system seems likely to remain only in localities 
where Spanish speech and traditions survive. Flooding is now more 
generally accomplished by means of shallow indentations or creases, 
which are not as large as furrows, but serve the same purpose. These 
are made by a simple implement at intervals of about twelve inches. 
They effect a very thorough and even wetting of the ground. 

The scientific side of irrigation is to be studied in connection with 
the cultivation of fruits and vegetables rather than with field crops. 
It is here that the English-speaking irrigators of California produced 
their best results. The ideal climatic conditions attracted both wealth 
and intelligence into the irrigation industry. Scarcity of water and 
high land values promoted the study of the best methods. Where 
water is abundant it is carried in open ditches and little thought is 
given to loss by seepage and evaporation. Under such conditions water 



24 



CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



is lavishly used, frequently to the injury rather than to the benefit of 
crops. But there are parts of California where water is as gold and is 
sought for in mountain tunnels and in the beds of streams. A thing 
so dearly obtained is not to be carelessly wasted before it reaches the 
place of use. Hence, steep and narrow ditches cemented on the bottom, 
or steel pipes and wooden flumes, are employed. 

The precious water is applied to the soil by means of small furrows 
run between the. trees or rows of vegetables. The ground has first been 
evenly graded on the face of each slope. The aim of the skillful irri- 
gator is to allow the water to saturate the ground evenly in each direc- 
tion, so as to reach the roots of the tree or plant. The stream is small, 
and creeps slowly down the furrow to the end of the orchard, where 




IRRIGATION DITCH — LINED WITH CEMENT. 



any surplus is absorbed by a strip of alfalfa, acting like a sponge. The 
land is kept thoroughly cultivated. In the best orchards no weed or 
spear of grass is ever seen, for water is too costly to waste in the nour- 
ishment of weeds. Moreover, it is desired to leave the soil open to the 
action of air and sunshine. Nowhere in the world is so much care 
given to the aeration of the soil as in the irrigated orchards and 
gardens of California. Too much water reduces the temperature of 
the soil, sometimes develops hardpan and, more frequently, brings 
alkali to the surface. For these reasons, modern science has enforced 
the economical use of water, reversing the Mexican custom of prodigal 
wastefulness. 

Of late years the application of water by furrows has been brought 
to a marvelous degree of perfection. What is known as the "Redlands 
system" is the best type of irrigation method known in the world. 



THE TRIUMPH OF IRRIGATION. 



25 



Under this system a small wooden flume or box is placed at head of 
the orchard. An opening is made opposite each furrow and through 
this the water flows in the desired quantity, being operated by a small 
gate or slide. The aperture regulates the flow of water accurately and 
the system is so simple that, after it is once adjusted, it is as easy as 
the turning of a faucet. The farmer who grows his crops on a fertile 
soil, under almost cloudless skies, with a system controlling the moisture 
as effective as this, may be said to have mastered the forces of nature. 

The quality of the fruit has improved immensely since the California 
methods were perfected. Every fruit-grower realizes that the profit 
in his business comes mostly from the first grade of fruit. Scientific 
irrigation makes it possible for him largely to increase the percentage 




IRRIGATING PRUNE ORCHARD — TREES IN BLOOM. 



of the best fruit, and the difference which this produces in the earning 
capacity of his acres is surprising. 

The Mission Fathers gave the natives their first lessons in the art 
of irrigation, and the beautiful gardens and orchards which sprang up 
in the early religious communities illustrated the agricultural possibili- 
ties inherent in California soil and sunshine. But the modern era of 
irrigation began fifty years ago with the founding of Anaheim, some 
twenty miles southeast of Los Angeles, by a colony of German-Ameri- 
cans. Anaheim is rightfully proud of its distinction as the mother 
colony. 

Far more widely celebrated, however, are Riverside and the numerous 
settlements which came into being as the consequence of its example and 
influence. Among these are Ontario, Pomona, Etiwanda, Corona, 
Redlands and many others. These famous communities represent the 



26 



CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



maximum achievement in home-building on irrigated lands, and have 
no real rivals in any part of the world, so far as skill in the application 
of water and beauty of public and private improvements are con- 
cerned. All that was said at the beginning of this article about the 
peculiar social and economic advantages arising from scientific control 
of moisture is strikingly illustrated in scores of Southern California 
communities. 

The streams in this part of the State are wholly of torrential char- 
acter, and during the larger portion of the year present nothing but 
dry channels over most of their courses. But during the rainy season 
they are often roaring rivers for a few days at a time, while a consid- 
erable flow is maintained by the melting snows much later. The canals 




FLOODING THE ORCHARD — WATER-TENDER AT WORK. 



first built upon these streams obtain most of their supply from the 
surface flow, but later canals depend upon the water which has been 
caught and held in storage reservoirs or upon that obtained from deep 
wells, some of which are of true artesian character and flow by means 
of their own pressure. The hunt for water goes on relentlessly from 
year to year, for it is the foundation of all values in this arid land. 
What individuals may do alone, or small farming communities by 
means of cooperation, has been largely done. What is now to be accom- 
plished by the hand of united and associated man we shall shortly see. 
Although Southern California was first to utilize irrigation, this is 
by no means the largest field of the industry. The beautiful southern 
counties enjoy a fame wholly out of proportion to their geographical 
area, which is greatly to their credit, and which is due to their success 
in putting water upon the land far more than to any other single factor. 
But it is the region north of the Pass of Tehachapi which was endowed 



THE TRIUMPH OF IRRIGATION. 27 

by nature with the greatest valleys of fertile soil and the most abundant 
supplies of water available for irrigation. The climate, too, is fully 
equal to that of the south in productive capacity. Indeed, the earliest 
fruit of every kind, including oranges, is grown hundreds of miles 
north of Los Angeles. It is difficult to convince Eastern people that 
this is true, because of their inherited prejudices as to the meaning of 
northern and southern latitudes, but it is, nevertheless, a fact beyond 
all dispute. 

The great interior basin of California, inclosed between the Coast 
Range and the Sierra, extends north and south of the bay of San Fran- 
cisco for hundreds of miles in either direction. The southern portion 
of it, known as the San Joaquin, has a number of great irrigation 




IRRIGATING STRAWBERRIES. 

systems, any one of which supplies more land than is irrigated in the 
famous valleys of Southern California. In addition to these great 
systems, there are many smaller ones. Perhaps the most striking 
development is that in the neighborhood of Fresno, which is the center 
of the raisin district. Here a very poor cattle country has been con- 
verted into a land of small diversified farms, sustaining a comparatively 
dense population. 

The great valley of the Sacramento, constituting the northern half 
of the great interior basin, is even more abundantly watered so far as 
the natural supply is concerned, but is far more backward in irriga- 
tion development. This is due to the fact that rainfall is heavier and 
more reliable, so that crops are raised without artificial moisture. The 
Sacramento region is now in the stage of transition from large to 
small farms and irrigation is being rapidly extended in consequence. 



28 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

In the beautiful coast region the same general statement is true, 
although the small farm unit has preceded irrigation in many localities. 
Certain classes of fruit are raised successfully by means of the winter 
rainfall, but the productive capacity of the soil is greatly enhanced 
by irrigation. Not only so, but irrigation makes it possible to diversify 
the crops to the last degree and to take full advantage of the wonderful 
climate by raising successive crops of small fruits and vegetables. This 
explains the rapid spread of the art in all portions of the State. 

Besides the celebrated districts in the north and south, with which 
all travelers and readers are more or less familiar, there are undiscov- 
ered Californias lying away from the railroad lines and scarcely known 
to Californians themselves, yet full of potentialities of development. 
These are on the eastern slopes of the Sierra, bordering Oregon on the 
north, Nevada on the east, and Mexico on the south. The most promis- 
ing of these districts are the Honey Lake region, the Inyo country and 
the vast valley of the Rio Colorado. 

As a whole, it may be said that the irrigation industry of California 
is yet in its infancy. What has so far been done is little more than the 
foreshadowing of the great achievement which is to come, for something 
great has happened in the last two years. 

Private and small cooperative enterprises have done what they could 
to assist California in the realization of its economic destiny. And they 
have done well. But the task is too great for any power short of the 
General Government itself to carry to a successful conclusion. It is 
to be the labor not of years, but of generations, even of centuries. It 
is to cost not millions, but tens of millions. It is to benefit not indi- 
viduals and local communities alone, but states, a nation, humanity. 
And its dividends are to be paid, not in pecuniary terms, but in lasting 
institutions, in the economic freedom of the race. 

The act approved June 17, 1902 — the anniversary of the battle of 
Bunker Hill — started California on a new era of development. The 
money provided for the work of national irrigation is meager — the 
fund now amounts to something over twenty millions — but the principle 
established is of incalculable importance. Already national engineers 
are at work in making plans on two California streams for irrigation 
systems as great as those built by British genius on the Ganges and 
the Nile. These streams are the Sacramento in the north and the Colo- 
rado in the south. When these are completed the foundations will be 
laid for millions of new population and hundreds of millions of new 
taxable wealth. These systems may be made to provide not only for 
irrigation, but also for drainage of lands now rendered useless by 
annual overflow, and may also assist in the provision of facilities for 
navigation and for power. 

The greatest single example of the triumph of irrigation in California 
is seen in the big region formerly known as the Colorado desert. This 
is the delta of the river of that name, in the extreme southeastern part 
of the State, extending over the border of Mexico. Here daring private 
enterprise has undertaken what would have been an ideal task for the 
Government itself — the reclamation of something like a million acres 
of the most fertile land in the world. 

January 1, 1901, not a single white man dwelt in the region, and 



MINING IN CALIFORNIA. 29 

even Indians were scarce. January 1, 1902, a party of a dozen survey- 
ors had the place to themselves. January 1, 1903, two thousand settlers 
had arrived. January 1, 1904, there were, approximately, ten thousand 
people there, with several towns, a railroad, telegraph, telephone, many 
stores, a national bank, and with seventy thousand acres in actual culti- 
vation. To-day it is almost a State in itself. It sounds like a tale from 
the Arabian Nights, but it is absolutely true. And even the truth of 
to-day is pale compared with the promise of to-morrow. A great river 
brought under human control makes all the difference between hopeless 
desolation and the highest forms of civilization. 

California beckons to the waiting millions. By the grace of irriga- 
tion she can make room for them all, and not only make room for them, 
but give them a degree of social equality and economic independence 
such as no other land on the face of the earth was ever able to offer 
them. To those who want homes, who want to work for themselves, 
who want to provide a future for their children, California spells 
Opportunity. 



MINING IN CALIFORNIA. 



By LEWIS E. AUBURY. 
State Mineralogist. 



Half a hundred minerals are adding annually to the wealth of Cali- 
fornia. Discoveries, new uses, and new processes are continually widen- 
ing alike the value of the mineral industry of this State. Trite as the 
saying may be, the truth is that the mineral resources of California are, 
practically, inexhaustible. Gold has passed through several productive 
phases, ranging from the period of the placer through the closely fol- 
lowing era of quartz mining, the greatly productive period of hydraulic 
mining before it was restrained, down to the dredging period of the 
present. 

The greatest conflagration in modern times, that which destroyed a 
large part of the city of San Francisco, the commercial and financial 
center of the State, was ineffectual to materially interfere with that 
progress. 

The past decade has largely increased the areas wherein minerals of 
high value have been produced in great commercial quantities. The 
petroleum industry of California, reckoning by years, is, in its widely 
extended aspect, almost new; but it has made a great record, not only 
in the amount of actually discovered oil sands, but also by having an 
output of almost unlimited application in manufactures, power making, 
has been able to enhance its value per barrel in the market solely by 
reason of the swiftly growing demand. Out of the home production 
of petroleum has grown the asphalt manufacturing industry, which now 
engages the attention of more than a score of plants and makes an 
increasing showing on the favorable side of the mineral balance sheet 
as it is annually prepared. 



30 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

A little more than a decade has brought copper forward into one of 
the leading items of the mineral statistics of California. A belt of 
large size in Shasta County has been proved to be immensely endowed 
with copper. Smelters costing many millions of dollars have been 
erected there. By night and by day they are operating. There are 
great copper belts in other parts of California, which have been 
developed less extensively than the cimetar-shaped one in Shasta, 
notably in Calaveras, Placer, Fresno, and San Bernardino counties. 
These have produced profitably. California has reached a high rank 
among the copper States of the Union. The next few years will make 
this State still more prominent in this regard. 

There is hardly a county in California in which mineral substances of 




OIL WELLS IN THE OCEAN, SANTA BARBARA COUNTY. 

some sort are not produced, commercially and profitably. In each suc- 
cessive period of twelve months the claim of this State to possession of 
resources that could be made to support its people almost independently 
is made good in constantly increasing measure. 

The gold output of California alone, inclusive of the year 1907, has 
amounted in value to $1,469,513,691. Notwithstanding this vast sum, 
it is safe to say that the future will demonstrate that a comparatively 
small beginning has been made toward exhausting the golden treasury 
of California. Deep quartz mines that have been - operated half a 
century are still large and profitable producers, and are paying divi- 
dends. From the beaches of Del Norte County to the southeastern 
extremity of this State, which is, approximately, something like 1,000 
miles, gold has been mined. 

The placer period was the most productive of any to date, and there 
is an excellent reason for this, namely, the low cost, relatively, of work- 



MINING IN CALIFORNIA. 31 

ing placers, and the ease with which the accumulated surface gold that 
had been washed down in ages was taken in hand by the early miners. 
But considering what the gold dredgers have proved concerning their 
utility and efficiency, and the fact that the rich quartz mines of depth 
are undoubtedly types of countless others that can and will be developed 
through the cooperation of capital and intelligent enterprise, the fore- 
cast of future gold output in California that will surpass that of the 
banner placer year need not be considered unwarranted. They who 
know of the actual mineral wealth of this State will be the last to ques- 
tion such a conclusion. 

Recent operations in long neglected fields have resulted in the uncov- 
ering of large deposits of very rich ores at comparatively small depth. 
The discoveries of gold in the past five years include some of the richest 
finds in the history of California. Such instances are not confined to 
any county, nor to any particular latitude. In addition to the quartz 
mines a large advance has been made in uncovering ancient river chan- 




LARGEST QUICKSILVER MINE IN THE WORLD— NEW ALMADEN. 

nels, which, under their capping of lava, carry great values. The objec- 
tive lesson is plain to whomsoever will take the time to comprehend, 
which is that invention is continually widening the possibilities for suc- 
cess on the part of the miner. Hydraulic mining is still profitable in 
places where the conditions are such as to permit operations to be con- 
ducted without interference of law. Drift mining holds its own as a 
source of wealth for those who are engaged in its pursuit and for the 
State at large. Gold dredging, which has been passing through a period 
of profitable evolution, contains vast possibilities. 

Gold dredging has been conducted mainly in large areas where the 
soil may be worked with comparative ease. Hidden under boulders, 
or in places to which the interposing boulders bar the way, there are 
millions of dollars' worth of gold yet to be recovered. The recent exten- 
sion of gold dredging in the counties that border on the rivers of Cali- 
fornia has been a large factor in the output of the year. 

A feature of the mineral development of California in the past few 
years, and one of great importance, has been the increase in the produc- 
tion of petroleum. In 1887 the total petroleum output of the State 
was but 678,572 barrels. Ten years later the output was 1,911,569 
barrels. In 1907 petroleum production reached the large proportions 
of 40,311,171 barrels, valued at $16,783,943. 



32 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

To convey an adequate idea of the distribution of minerals among the 
counties of California I have taken the following extract from a report 
that was sent out by the California State Mining Bureau in 1908, in 
connection with the statistical returns for the State for the year 1907 : 

"Placer County produced the asbestos. Asphalt was produced in 
Alameda, Contra Costa, Kern, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Luis 
Obsipo, and San Francisco counties. The bituminous rock all came 
from Santa Cruz and San Luis Obispo counties. 

"Borax is credited to Inyo, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties; 
cement to Napa, San Bernardino, and Solano counties ; chrome to Cala- 
veras and Shasta counties. 




GOLD DREDGING — OROVILLE. 

"Brick clays are utilized in Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Hum- 
boldt, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Marin, Merced, Madera, 
Mendocino, Orange, Riverside, Sonoma, Santa Clara, San Joaquin, San 
Mateo, San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, Sacramento, San 
Francisco, San Luis Obispo, Shasta, Solano, Tehama, Tulare, and Ven- 
tura counties. 

"Pottery clays are credited to Alameda, Amador, Calaveras, Los 
Angeles, Placer, Riverside, and Sonoma counties. 

"The great bulk of copper was produced in Shasta County, the cop- 
per output of that county alone being more than 27,000,000 pounds. 
Calaveras produced 3,941,883 pounds. Fresno stood third in copper 
production, with 250,000 pounds. The other copper producing counties 
were Amador, El Dorado, Inyo, Los Angeles, Madera, Nevada, Orange. 
Riverside, San Diego, San Bernardino, and Siskiyou. 

"Kings County produced Fuller's earth, San Diego, Riverside, 
Sonoma, and Tulare counties reported production of gems. 



MINING IN CALIFORNIA. 



33 



"Nevada, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, and San 
Diego counties were granite producers, and Colusa, Los Angeles, Santa 
Barbara, Siskiyou and Yolo yield sandstone. Some serpentine was 
quarried in Los Angeles County. Alameda, Colusa, Contra Costa, Los 
Angeles, Riverside, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Fran- 
cisco, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Solano, and Sonoma are 
entitled to credit for the production of macadam. Marble was quarried 
in Inyo, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and 
Tuolumne counties, and rubble in Alameda, Los Angelas, Marin, Napa, 
Placer, Riverside, San Diego, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Sacra- 
mento, San Francisco, Solano, and Ventura counties. Glass sand was 




HYDRAULIC MINING. NEVADA COUNTY. 

produced in Monterey County ; paving blocks in Riverside, San Bernar- 
dino, Solano, and Sonoma. 

"The sole producer of iron ore was Shasta County. Santa Barbara 
was alone in the production of infusorial earth. Kern, Los Angeles, and 
Tulare counties were gypsum producers. Madera, Mariposa, Orange, 
San Bernardino, Inyo, and Riverside were lead producing counties. 
The zinc came from Inyo and Orange counties. 

"Lime or limestone were in the mineral output of Amador, El Dorado, 
Kern, Los Angeles, Monterey, Placer, Riverside, Santa Clara, Siskiyou, 
Santa Cruz, Shasta, San Luis Obispo, San Bernardino, Sonoma, San 
Benito, Tuolumne, Calaveras, Santa Barbara, and Plumas counties. 

"Four counties brought forth magnesite, namely, Alameda, Riverside, 
Sonoma, and Tulare counties. Plumas alone produced manganese. 
Stanislaus is credited with mineral paint. Mineral waters were pro- 
duced for market in the counties of Butte, Colusa, Lake, Los Angeles, 
Mendocino. Montere}', Napa, San Benito, Santa Barbara, San Luis 



3-4 



CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



Obispo, Santa Clara, San Diego, Shasta, Sonoma, Sierra, Siskiyou, 
Solano, and Tehama. The natural gas producers were the counties of 
Sacramento, San Joaquin, Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Solano. 

"The petroleum producing counties included Fresno, Kern, Los 
Angeles, Orange, Santa Clara, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and 
Ventura. Quicksilver was mined in Colusa, Lake, Napa, Santa Clara, 
San Benito, Santa Barbara, Solano, San Luis Obispo and Sonoma 




A VENTURA OIL FIELD, BUCKHORN DISTRICT. 



counties. Pyrites came from Alameda and Shasta counties. Calaveras 
alone produced quartz crystals. 

"The salt production of the State was due to Alameda, Colusa, Los 
Angeles, San Diego, San Mateo, and Solano counties, the largest pro- 
ducer being Alameda County. All the slate was produced in El Dorado 
County. Tungsten is credited to Kern and San Bernardino counties. 

"The counties that reported gold production are Amador, Butte. 
Calaveras, Colusa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Humboldt, Inyo, Kern, 



AGRICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 35 

Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Monterey, 
Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino. 
San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Stanislaus. 
Trinity, Tuolumne, and Yuba. Silver was also mined, in each of the 
gold producing counties with one exception." 

Generally speaking, the foregoing is sufficient to indicate the extent 
of areas in which mineral substances are found in California ; but it is 
true that the mineral fields that are utilized in the production of wealth 
in this State are widening their boundaries, continually. The returns 
for the year 1907, which are the latest complete returns now available, 
show that the total value of metallic substances was $24,896,483, and 
of nonmetallie substances $2,505,000. The total value of the hydro- 
carbons and gases was $18,029,937, an increase of $7,859,664; of 
structural materials $10,266,529, an increase of $2,407,403, as compared 
with the previous year. Owing to the decrease in the gold and silver 
output, as reported by the United States Geological Survey, and the 
increase in the production and value of petroleum, as ascertained by the 
California State Mining Bureau, petroleum, for the first time, took the 
leading place in the mineral production of California. 



AGRICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 



By ARTHUR R. BRIGGS, 
Manager of the California State Board of Trade. 



Under varied conditions, farming in California has more features 
of interest and presents greater opportunities than in any other State. 
The wide range of products and the peculiarities of soil, climate and 
weather afford abundant scope for the energies and experiments of the 
wideawake tiller of the soil. Despite the impression that prevails in 
states east of the Rocky Mountains, the rules under which farming is 
profitable elsewhere are applicable here. The stock-raiser in any other 
part of the United States would not be at a loss to understand the 
features of difference in stock-raising in California from those which 
obtain in the older states, and to adapt himself to them. The successful 
and intelligent farmer in any other state would be equally successful 
here, and his experience wherever gained would be as useful. If the 
business involves less expenditure and less care on account of more 
favorable conditions, this would not necessitate the unlearning of any- 
thing, nor operate against the introduction of methods that have been 
successfully employed in other states. This statement applies to all 
branches of agriculture, for the reason that farming, like any other 
occupation, involves a fundamental knowledge, fortified with practical 
experience, and the intelligence to understand the importance of adapt- 
ing that knowledge and experience to different conditions. 

"When it is understood that California, the second state in size in 
the Union, has a total land area of 155,980 square miles, or 99,827,200 



36 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

acres, of which 28.9 per cent, or 28,828,931 acres, were included in 
farms when the census of 1900 was taken, some general idea of its 
magnitude as a farming area is received. But no part of California 
has yet been developed to its capacity, either as to products or in the 
selection of such as are ultimately to be of the greatest profit. Intensive 
farming has been exemplified in several counties, but not one of them 
has its whole cultivable area in crops. Another consideration in esti- 
mating the agricultural possibilities of California is that the soil and 
climate are favorable for the growth of all the products — that is, 
valuable and high-priced crops— which made the region around the 
Mediterranean unique and gave it an exclusive trade, until California 
intervened; also, that here in the same localities and in adjoining tracts, 
the raisin, the fig, corn and other cereals, and all the vegetation and 
fruitage common to the strictly temperate zone, thrive to perfection. 

That the extensive grainfields of former years have been or are being 
converted into farms of less acreage devoted to a new cultivation, and 
that the combined harvester, which cuts, threshes and sacks the grain 
ready for market, with its thirty-two mules as a propelling power, is 
gradually being supplanted with the machinery suited to smaller hold- 
ings, are evidences of a new and more modern civilization which is in the 
line of industrial progress. But this does not remove California from 
the list of large cereal productions. 

Agriculture in California, it should be understood, has passed 
through several phases. Immediately after the subsidence of the charac- 
teristic era of placer mining, the cultivation of cereals began on a very 
large scale. Fruit was considered to be only of advantage for home 
needs. When it was discovered that green deciduous fruits could 
be successfully marketed as far eastward as the Atlantic coast, and 
ultimately in Europe, and that the distribution of canned and dried 
fruits might be effected on a larger commercial scale, other branches of 
farming began to attract attention. Intelligent experiments led to the 
discovery of many fruit varieties that could be successfully grown and 
marketed. 

The limit of products that may be grown in California is co-extensive 
with the range of products in all semi-tropical and strictly temperate 
lands. Means have been discovered to pollinate the fig, so that in Cali- 
fornia the Smyrna fig is successfully produced, and promises to supply 
the world. That this is no idle dream is shown in the fact that already 
California raisin-producers, after but few years' experience, practically 
have the whole United States as a customer. The prunes of California 
have driven French prunes largely from the American market, and are 
pressing the foreign market for a leading position. California dried 
and canned fruits have secured the trade of the United States and have 
for several years been extensively exported to Europe and to other parts 
of the world. 

No agricultural experiment that has ever been tried in California 
has been a failure from the viewpoint of production. It is accepted as 
a fact that "everything will grow in California." Its great variety of 
elevation and of climate provide all the conditions essential for plant 
growth. The most forbidding; deserts bloom like the rose at the magic 
touch of water. Plenty waits only industry, intelligently applied, to 
give large rewards in all parts of the State, with the exception of the 



38 



CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



higher altitudes in the mountains. The foothills and the valleys, the 
interior and the coast counties alike, are prolific in agricultural products. 
In the northern and central counties of the State crops have been 
annually produced at commercial profit without artificial irrigation; 
but it has been demonstrated that artificial irrigation not only enhances 
the yield greatly, but is an assurance of success. Wherever there are 
well-established irrigation systems, fruit crops are certain and large. 
The southern counties of California have from the beginning been com- 
pelled to rely upon artificial irrigation, the rainfall south of the 
Tehachapi Pass being much less than in the counties farther north. 
The northern and central counties have also of late years created large 
and successful irrigation systems. 




AFTER THE THRESHING. 



The beet sugar industry is capable of large increase. Experience 
and scientific experiments, as well as climatic conditions, attest the 
superior merits of California for sugar beet-growing. 

The opportunities for development of tobacco-growing are recognized. 
The peculiar quality of soils in California renders fertilizing unneces- 
sary for the tobacco plant, which is a material saving as compared 
with other states. The absence of frost during the growing season is 
a feature of importance in the cultivation of tobacco. Parties most 
familiar with tobacco-growing contend that it will ultimately be largely 
engaged in and be profitable here. 

Livestock-raising is very largely and successfully engaged in. The 
foothill and mountain districts, at one time erroneously considered 
among waste lands, furnish rich pasturage — the higher mountain eleva- 
tions in summer, and the foothills in winter — thus giving favorable 



AGRICULTIKK IN CALIFORNIA. 



39 



conditions the year around. Animals is this State mature and reach 
their growth at an early age. A two-year-old animal attains about the 
size of a three-year-old in other states. A large area of alfalfa during 
the last few years has added greatly to the livestock interests. 

The breeding of horses and mules has been a prominent factor in 
agricultural development. California thoroughbred horses have stood 
in the front rank for many years. 

In the earlier development of California sheep-raising was a leading 
industry. In 1876 sheep numbered nearly 7,000,000 and the annual 
production of wool reached over 56,500,000 pounds, bringing over 
$10,000,000 to the State. Other agricultural pursuits become more prof- 
itable, besides the demands of increased population displaced sheep hus- 




ON THE WAY TO MARKET. 



bandry, and after 1876 sheep-raising declined in importance. It is, 
however, still a large industry, both for mutton and for wool, and will 
continue to be, as the ranges unsuitable for cultivation in the foothills 
and mountains are well suited to this industry. The present product of 
wool for the State aggregates about 22,000,000 pounds. 

Hogs are extensively raised," but not in sufficient numbers to supply 
home needs. With the increased acreage in alfalfa and the extension 
of the dairy interests this branch of farming is on the increase. Indian 
corn, the great product of the Middle West for fattening hogs, is lack- 
ing in the State, and its substitute is barley, which is found to be equally 
well suited to that purpose. This branch of farming is capable of large 
increase. On account of the quick returns and the sure profit it affords, 
hog-raising is attracting much attention. 

Despite the fact that every possible condition favorable to the poultry 



40 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

business exists, large quantities of eggs and poultry are imported 
annually. It may surprise the farmers in the East and West when the 
fact is known that some farmers in California send to the town store for 
butter, eggs and chickens. Eggs and chickens are generally the by- 
products of the Western farm, but they go a long way toward the sup- 
port of the family. The California farmer has yet to learn the value of 
the farm by-product. 

The production of honey is worthy of consideration. In the central 
and southern portions of the State, and to some extent in Northern Cali- 
fornia, the business is made a separate occupation; the output is large 
and finds market in the East and West. As a by-product of the orchard 




GRAIN BARGES ON THE SACRAMENTO RIVER. 

and farm, bee culture has value. In orchards it has been found that 
bees aid in the pollenization of the fruit-tree blossom. 

It will, therefore, be seen that agriculture in California covers a wide 
scope and affords opportunity for important development, The last 
quarter of a century has given demonstration sufficient to justify 
expectation far beyond any present development. The application of 
scientific methods is bringing into this department of industry intelli- 
gence and capital from various parts of the world that promises great 
results. This, coupled with peculiar climatic conditions, gives to farm 
life and the country home features of attraction hitherto unknown. 

Most of California's oranges are grown in the southern and lower 
central parts of the State ; practically all the fresh deciduous fruit was 
shipped from Northern and Central California. The raisin center is in 
Fresno County and vicinity ; the prune center is in Santa Clara County 
and vicinity ; of the dried fruit over eighty-five per cent goes from the 



HORTICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 41 

northern and central portions of the State, and these sections give an 
exceedingly large percentage of the canned fruits ; the walnuts are prin- 
cipally grown in the south, while the almonds are mostly from the 
north; the fresh peaches, pears, cherries, plums, apricots, etc., nearly 
all go from north of the Tehachapi Mountains, which divide Southern 
California from Central and Northern California. The annual pro- 
duction of wine is now about 30,000,000 gallons. 



HORTICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 



By E. J. WICKSON, 

Dean and Professor of Agriculture in the College of Agriculture of the University 
of California ; Director and Horticulturist of the Agricultural Experiment Sta- 
tion ; Author of "California Fruits and How to Grow Them" and of "California 
Vegetables in Garden and Field ;" Editor of The Pacific Rural Press ; Member of 
the National Council of Horticulture, etc. 



Certain facts which are of great interest and importance in con- 
nection with fruit-growing in California are these : 

First — Fruit-growing and the manufacture of fruit products consti- 
tute the leading industry of California. The output, from its beginning 
on a large commercial scale about 1880, has shown an average increase in 
value of about $2,000,000 per year, and has now reached a total annual 
value of more than $60,000,000. This constitutes California the greatest 
fruit-growing State of the Union. 

Second — The reasons for this eminence of California in fruit-growing 
are several : 

(a) The possession of climate which insures the life and thrift of the 
tree or vine. This can be appreciated when it is understood that, except 
at elevations greater than those chosen for fruit planting, there is no 
cold severe enough to freeze the ground and no winter-killing of trees. 

(&) The length of the growing season, the absence of summer rains, 
the brilliance of the sunshine, and the adequacy of sun heat promote 
size, beauty and quality of fruit and favor the manufacture of evap- 
orated fruits at a minimum cost. 

(c) The combination of conditions, which befit the growth of both 
semi-tropic and temperate zone fruits, gives California command of a 
variety of fruits which no other State possesses in such fullness and per- 
fection. This will appear more clearly as the different fruits are sep- 
arately discussed in this paper. 

(d) The occurrence in California of vast areas of deep, loamy soils, 
rich in plant food, easy to cultivate and encouraging root growth to a 
depth of ten feet quite generally and occasionally twice and even 
thrice that depth, as shown by actual digging. Though this is true, it is 
also true that shallowed soils are successfully employed in growing fruit. 

Third — Aside from natural conditions of climate and soil, fruit- 
growing has reached its present eminence in California through the 



42 



CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



high intelligence, energy and business ability which are found in the 
agricultural population of the State. These qualities of citizenship 
have made it possible to develop methods of growing, preserving and 
distant marketing of fruits which are new and characteristic of Cali- 
fornia. The employment of these methods, coupled with the acceptable 
nature of horticultural work and the opportunity to pursue it nearly the 
whole year, renders it possible for a horticultural worker to accomplish 




CROP OF SWEET WINE GRAPES. 



with ease and comfort twice the work which can be compassed in climates 
which add the embargo of winter to the depression of hot, moist summer 
weather. 

Fourth — But after all, and probably, the underlying secret of success 
in California fruit-growing is the conception of the tree or vine as a 
producing machine which must be developed and maintained in the 
highest degree of efficiency. This idea of a tree widely prevails, and in 
commercial plantings is sharply and diligently pursued. The tree must 
have the best shape to bear a fair amount of large, well-developed fruit. 




H 

< 
P 

K 
> 
O 

J 

o 

a" 
« 

o 
K 

c 

H 

O 

K 
C 



44 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

It must be a low tree in order that all work upon it can be most cheaply 
done. It must grow every year a sufficient amount of strong, new wood, 
and to do this it must be pruned to promote this ; also to prevent over- 
growth and overbearing. On the other hand, satisfactory growth and 
fruit-bearing must also be promoted by constant cultivation of the soil 
and by irrigation and fertilization, when necessary. It must be pro- 
tected in its strength by the absolute destruction of injurious insects, 
blights and diseases. All this signifies that the tree must be main- 
tained in full possession of its producing powers, and the California 
grower expects to stand beside his trees, constantly training and push- 
ing them to their work and generously assisting them to all that they 
need to do it well. It is this conception of the grower's relation to his 
trees and the discharge of the duties which such relation requires, which 
have brought to California fruit-growing such notable success and wide 
repute. 

Fifth — California fruit-growing has reached its present eminence 
because of the wide application of business principles in production and 
in trade. Many of the leading fruit-growers were formerly prominent 
and successful in manufacturing and commercial affairs at the East and 
abroad. They brought to California the wisdom born of experience. 
They invented new processes and appliances, and they applied the most 
advanced commercial methods. They matched the favoring natural con- 
ditions of soil and climate with their own skill and energy in using them 
to the best advantage. They have demonstrated the advantage of 
cooperative organizations for handling fruits in the packing-house and 
in the markets so clearly that California methods are commanding atten- 
tion in all parts of the world. 

VARIOUS FRUITS COMMERCIALLY GROWN IN CALIFORNIA. 

It may be most interesting and convenient to those seeking informa- 
tion about California fruit-growing to state a few of the leading fads 
about each of the fruits, under its own name, and for ease of reference, 
an alphabetical arrangement will be followed in each of the groups into 
which the fruits naturally divide themselves. 



DECIDUOUS ORCHARD FRUITS. 

According to reports by the counties to the State Board of 
Apple. Agriculture in 1906 California has 2,612,938 apple trees in 

orchard, of which about one third were not yet in bearing. 
The success attained in growing a winter apple very satisfactory to the 
trade and capable of distant shipment constitutes this fruit one of the 
most promising and popular at the present time. About one thousand 
carloads are shipped beyond state lines, and a considerable quantity 
reaches the London market, selling at the highest prices. There are two 
distinct branches to the apple industry of California : one is the growing 
of early varieties, like the Artrachan and Gravenstein, for sale in the 
northern parts of the Pacific coast and in the interior mountain states 
before the earliest apples can be ripened in those parts. The localities 
where these early varieties are chiefly grown for such shipment are in the 
Sacramento Valley and the foothills surrounding it. The forcing heat 



46 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

of the spring and early summer brings these varieties quickly to notable 
size, crispness and flavor. This heat, however, continued into the sum- 
mer and autumn, makes the same districts quite ill-suited for the growth 
of winter apples, which are prematurely ripened and lack quality and 
keeping power. 

The second branch of the California apple industry, then, the produc- 
tion of winter apples, is undertaken in parts of the State quite different 
in climate from that of the early apple regions. The requirements of 
a winter apple are fully met by two main divisions of the State, viz. : 
the smaller valleys close to the coast, in fact, in some cases, the coast 
flats, where the exposure is directly toward the cooling breezes of the 
ocean which produce a cool summer — a long, slow-growing season, which 
develops the greatest beauty and highest quality in a winter apple. 
Similar results are also produced by the climate found at an elevation of 
from 2,500 to 5,000 feet on the interior plateaus and in the mountain val- 
leys. The coast district has developed a greater commercial apple indus- 
try than the mountains, because transportation facilities for shipment 
are vastly better ; but as the State advances the mountain districts will 
be employed in this production much more largely than at present. The 
greatest apple district of the State is the Pajaro Valley, including parts 
of Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, centering at Watsonville, which 
shipped about 3,500 carloads of apples in 1907. The counties next 
prominent in apple-growing are Sonoma, Mendocino and San Luis 
Obispo, while many other counties have good apple orchards in less total 
acreage ; in fact, from San Diego on the south to Siskiyou on the north, 
localities exist which afford the elevation or the coast exposures which 
favor the production of good winter apples, and planting is progressing 
in all these districts. 

California has 2,612,938 apricot trees, which stand in the 
Apricot. open air without protection of any kind and bear large, 

luscious fruit. That apricot trees can do this constitutes 
one of the unique features of California fruit-growing and proclaims it 
different from fruit-growing in other states, for, excepting a few local- 
ities in other parts of the Pacific Slope, California has a monopoly of 
apricot-growing. And yet the apricot does not find all parts of Califor- 
nia suited to it. The whole northwest quarter of the State, north of San 
Francisco Bay and west of the high ridges of the Coast Range, does not 
grow apricots commercially, nor does this fruit anywhere ascend above 
an elevation of 1,500 feet upon the foothills. It is particularly a fruit 
of the protected coast valleys south and east of the bay of San Francisco 
to the southern end of the State ; also of the great interior valleys and 
lower foothills, avoiding, however, the low places in these valleys where 
spring frosts may injure the crop though the tree is not harmed. For 
these reasons it is wise to choose locations for the apricot with some dis- 
crimination, but such large areas of land are practically safe that the 
present great product can be several times multiplied if the world's 
market should favor it. The California apricot is of superior size and 
quality, and in canned and dried forms is finding a free field in the 
countries of northern Europe for any surplus which is not required in 
the United States. 

A point of advantage with the apricot, as with the pear and peach 
and to a less extent with the nectarine and plum, is that it has three 



HORTICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 



47 



great lines of demand: first, as fresh fruit, of which 279 carloads were 
shipped to Eastern markets in 1905; second, as canned fruit, with a 




product of 397,350 cases, each containing two dozen 2V£-pound cans; 
third, 38,500,000 pounds of dried apricots. Counties growing apricots 



48 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

largely are as follows : Santa Clara, Solano, Ventura, Los Angeles, and 
Alameda, while several other counties closely approach them. Some of 
these counties are five hundred miles apart and their success with the 
apricot shows how widely suitable locations are distributed over the 
State. 

The cherry is one of the lesser orchard fruits of California, 
Cherry. because the regions which favor it are fewer and because 

its commercial field is less ; but in the size and quality of 
the fruit and the prolific bearing of the tree the cherry is a great fruit 
in locations which meet its requirements. The cherry requires a modifi- 
cation of summer heat and of the dryness of the summer air, and for 
these reasons it does not thrive on the interior plains, even when irriga- 
tion is employed to regulate soil moisture. In the coast valleys, however, 
in the upper part of the State, in the smaller valleys tributary to the 
great Sacramento Valley and on the river lands, where depth of soil 
prevails and modification of air-dryness is secured by abundance of 
adjacent water, the cherry behaves magnificently. Elevation also secures 
conditions suitable to the cherry in some cases, notably in Southern Cali- 
fornia, where the products of trees in mountain valleys at an elevation 
of 2,000 feet or more is satisfactory and profitable, though the trees on 
mesas below, where citrus fruits thrive, are disappointing. There are 
671,666 cherry trees in California, of which Santa Clara, Alameda, Yuba 
and Solano have the largest plantings. Cherry-drying has never largely 
prevailed in California. The shipment of fresh fruit to the East has 
overcome its chief difficulties and is now rapidly increasing — the ship- 
ment of 1905 aggregating over 279 carloads. Cherries are constantly 
growing in volume as canned fruit, the product of 1903 being about 
142,525 cases. The acreage at the present time is extending on the basis 
of the improving shipping and canning demand. 

The peach is the greatest orchard fruit of California of the 
Peach. deciduous class. A few years ago it was surpassed in acre- 

age by the prune, but the prune was over-planted in situa- 
tions not befitting it, and such unwise extensions have largely disap- 
peared. This restores the peach to the supremacy which it held previous 
to that unfortunate incident, as it has had no reverses, but has rather 
gained continually in popularity. The peach has a very wide range in 
California. It goes beyond the apricot in the coast valleys north of San 
Francisco; it goes beside the apricot wherever the latter thrives in the 
interior; rises a thousand feet above it on the foothills, and goes lower 
on the plains into the frosted areas with less danger. The peach is a 
grand fruit almost everywhere ; it has a ripening season with different 
varieties and different locations from May to December, though, of 
course, the midseason varieties constitute the great commercial crop. 
The varieties most largely grown are of California origin, being chiefly 
selected chance seedlings taken up by enterprising nurserymen on the 
approval of the growers with whom they originated. These varieties 
have gained fame by embodying qualities acceptable to three main lines 
of disposition indicated by these notes of the product, viz. : Shipment of 
fresh peaches overland in 1905, 1,946 carloads (the greatest volume of any 
deciduous fruit) ; canned peaches, 1,494,750 cases (the largest canned 
product of any single fruit) ; dried peaches (1905) 35,000,000 pounds 
(larger than any other tree fruit except the prune). This product, as 



HORTICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 



49 



indicated above, is derived from nearly all parts of the State, though 
mainly from the great interior valleys (the San Joaquin and the Sacra- 
mento) and the foothills. Four counties, Placer, Fresno, Tehama and 
Santa Clara, have over 500,000 trees each, while Kings, Solano, Sonoma 
and Tulare have over 200,000 trees each. About ten other counties 
go above the 100,000 mark. Tbe California peach, though it is now 
eminent, has even a greater future before it. 

The nectarine is a smooth-skinned peach, but is much 
Nectarine. less than the peach in product and popularity. The 

canned product of nectarines is 5,000 cases, and the dried 
product but 400,000 pounds. California produces a magnificent 




DRYING FRUIT. 



nectarine, but the demand for the fruit does not justify the effort for 
large product, though the outlook is improving. 

Because of conditions favoring the growth of pears of 
Pear. the most popular market sorts in greater beauty and 

volume than they can be produced in older States and 
countries, the California pear has commanded wide attention in distant 
parts of the United States, and, like the apple, has commanded the 
highest price for fresh fruit in the London market; in fact, in 1904, 
the pear stands next to the peach in this trade, 2,186 carloads being 
shipped out of the State in that year. The pear also is high in canning, 
the product being 565,000 cases in 1906; in drying the same is true, 
as the normal annual output is about 6,000,000 pounds. The pear 
resembles the peach in its wide range over coast valley, interior valley 
and foothill situations, but it extends beyond the peach, for it goes to 
an altitude of 5,000 feet on the mountains and it descends to the lowest 



50 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

places in the valleys, for neither frost nor standing water can avail 
against it. It escapes frost by its slow start in the spring, and it 
endures water and even a degree of alkali in the soil by the hardy char- 
acter of its root. In ripening, also, it is not injured by a degree and 
duration of heat which ruin the quality of a winter apple. Until 
recently the pear was free from the "fire blight" in California, and 
there seemed no limit to the possibilities in pear-growing. During the 
last few years it has done great injury, but is being vigorously fought. 
The pear census shows the existence of about 1,800,000 pear trees. The 
leading pear counties are Solano, Santa Clara, Placer, Sonoma, Sacra- 
mento, El Dorado, Contra Costa, Yolo, Yuba, etc., but almost every 
county in the State grows the fruit in commercial quantities. The 
varieties grown are comparatively few and the Bartlett is chief, because 
there are fully two months between the first to mature in early dis- 
tricts and the last in late districts, and during all this time supplies are 
ample for shipping, canning and drying of this one exceedingly accept- 
able variety which permits no intruders while it is in season. The 
growing of later pears is limited, because the Eastern-grown winter 
pears are usually available in large quantities in the Eastern markets 
after the California Bartlett has had its run. Still, a few shippers are 
making excellent records with winter pears in distant markets. 

By demonstrating the suitability of the climate for the 
Plum and free-fruiting of the choicest varieties of the European 
Prune. plum, California growers freed themselves from the 

burden of building up on the basis of the wild American 
species which Eastern growers have done with so much credit to them- 
selves. California has no need to seek hardy plums, for the tenderest 
are perfectly satisfactory; nor does California have to circumvent the 
curculio and the black knot, for these have never appeared in the State. 
The French prunes were introduced at an early day and the product 
was so successful and profitable and won its way by displacing 
European prunes in American markets, that there arose ere long almost 
a rage for prune-planting, the product of which, rising to nearly 
200,000,000 pounds of dried prunes in 1906, has outgrown the require- 
ments of the United States and is being pushed for sale in Europe, even 
in France itself. Probably even greater success than could have been 
anticipated in disposing of this immense volume of prunes has been 
attained, and yet as free and profitable an outlet as is necessary has not 
been secured. The prune has been depressed, acreage has been some- 
what reduced (as stated in the foregoing discussion of the peach), 
and at present there is less interest in prune-planting, except where an 
exceptionally large fruit, can be counted upon. Strenuous efforts are 
being made to popularize the prune as a desirable food, to push the 
product into markets in all parts of the world, and to realize fair 
returns for such an excellent fruit as the California prune is con- 
ceded to be. Good results may be expected from such efforts, but it 
is probably wise to be conservative about extending the acreage until 
some assurance is had. California has invented new processes of cur- 
ing prunes by machinery and other labor-saving appliances, and has 
endeavored by human devices to match the economy of production to 
which nature contributes free sunshine and dry air. Probably nowhere 
in the world can so rich and delicious a fruit food as the California 



HORTICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 



51 



prune be so cheaply produced, and it is reasonable to expect that the 
world will need all that can be produced when organization for distribu- 
tion and trade is made effective. The largest prune-producing counties 
are Santa Clara (which has nearly one half of all the prune trees in the 
State), Sonoma, Alameda, Solano, Tulare, Santa Cruz, Kings, etc. — 
both the coast valleys and the great interior valleys participating in the 
production. 

Of plums, aside from varieties which are dried without removal of 
the pit (and therefore called prunes), the production is relatively small 
and largely restricted to the Japanese and a few other varieties which 
are particularly adapted to fresh-fruit shipments and canning. These 
fruits are largely grown in the districts where early ripening can be 




CURING PRUNES. 



counted upon. The size and beauty of the shipping and canning plums 
of California are striking, and the product reaches a good volume, viz. : 
plum shipments, fresh, in 1905, 1,391 carloads ; canned plums, 193,550 
cases; dried plums (other than prunes), 200,000 pounds. 



NUTS. 

California produces practically the whole of the almond 
Almond. crop of the United States, and thus stands as the only 

source of a home-grown almond supply for American 
markets. The California interest is large, comprising 1,440,980 trees, 
and the product in favorable years reaches about three hundred car- 
loads. There is, however, considerable irregularity in the annual crop, 
because some districts are liable to frost injury. The almond is a very 
restless tree during the California winter, for the temperature in the 



52 



CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



valleys is always near the point which induces blooming and rather a 
light frost may injure blossoms and young nuts. For this reason it is 
very important to select locations for almonds where there is a minimum 
danger of frost. These are found on the bench lands around small 
valleys, while the bottom lands in the same valleys might be quite frosty 
and should be planted with later blooming fruits. Frosts are also less 
frequent on the plains of the interior valleys wmere there is a free cir- 
culation of air which tends to equalize temperatures, while on the river 
bottom lands the trees may be unproductive though growing thriftily. 
The almond does not thrive at elevations in the foothills and seems to be 
a bench and valley fruit, but even within these limits locations must be 
chosen with close attention to local topography. The chief product is 




HARVESTING ALMONDS. 



grown in Yolo, Contra Costa, Solano, San Joaquin, and Tehama counties, 
which are in the central and northern region of the State, although 
many other counties contribute in a smaller way. 

The California chestnut product is small and consists 
Chestnut. almost entirely of the Italian variety grown in the interior 

valleys and foothills. The production of the best chest- 
nuts of American and European varieties can be largely and probably 
profitably increased, but no particular attention has been paid to the 
matter, except by a few enterprising growers. 

On light loams all through the lower lands of California, 
Peanut. the peanut thrives well and makes a large product of 

exceptionally large, bright and well-filled nuts. In 
Southern California the chief product is on the lower lands of the coast 
region, while in Central and Northern California peanuts are mostly 



HORTICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 53 

grown on the alluvial loams of the river bottoms of the Sacramento and 
San Joaquin valleys, although the crop is sometimes raised between 
fruit trees on the light upland loams. The product is quite profitable 
to those who master the details. Though it might be a question as to 
whether California should enter into competition in the general markets 
of the country, there seems no good reason why the crop should not be 
brought up to the demand for local consumption. At present only 
about one fifth of the peanuts used in California are grown here. 

The pecan grows well and bears well in the lower lands 
Pecan. of the interior valleys. It does not behave well near the 

coast where the seasons are not well defined, nor does it 
thrive in the drier regions of the interior. On deep lands, however, 
where moisture is ample and where the approach of autumn is marked 
by rather sharp frosts, the pecan stops its growth and matures its nuts 
satisfactorily. The product has not yet risen to commercial importance. 

The English walnut is the greatest nut grown in Cali- 
Walnut. fornia, judged by the volume and value of the product, 

by the breadth of its adaptability to California conditions, 
and by the greatness of its outlook. The present commercial product 
is about one thousand carloads in a good season, and there are upwards 
of 1,000,000 trees in orchard — about one third of the number not yet 
in bearing. The present product is almost entirely grown in three 
counties in Southern California : Orange, Los Angeles, and Ventura, 
and the adjoining counties of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo 
stand next in acreage of walnuts. During the last few years, however, 
owing to the profitableness of the walnut, there has been a large plant- 
ing in the central part of the State, and the product of the future 
will be drawn from a wider territory than hitherto. The walnut tree 
is, in fact, content with the coast, interior valley and foothill climates, 
providing it has sufficient depth of soil to sustain it and to furnish the 
constant, but not excessive water supply which it needs. Where the 
rainfall is large and the soil deep enough to retain moisture and yet 
open enough to prevent standing water, walnuts yield satisfactory 
results without irrigation. In places with light rainfall or where the 
soil is too shallow or non-retentive to hold moisture for the long grow- 
ing season, irrigation is requisite. There is, however, need to select 
varieties with some regard to localities. In Southern California a 
local seedling, known as the Santa Barbara soft-shell, is chiefly grown. 
This variety is not so well adapted to conditions in the upper part 
of the State. The French imported varieties, especially the Franquette 
and Mayette, and some California seedlings locally originated are better 
and are now being largely planted. These varieties are hardy against 
spring frosts because of their late blooming, and they resist the sun 
heat of the interior. The Southern California variety is injured by 
these agencies, but as they are reduced to a minimum in the Southern 
California coast regions, the resistance of a variety is not of as much 
concern. Recently a bacterial blight has been spreading and occasion- 
ing considerable losses in some years, but is not considered serious 
enough to resist planting. 



54 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



THE GRAPE AND ITS PRODUCT. 

The grape grows in all parts of California, from near sea level on 
the coast to an elevation of five thousand feet or more on the moun- 
tains. It is contented, too, with nearly all fertile soils, from the deep 
valley loams, where the great, fat, firm-fleshed grapes are grown for 
raisin and table purposes, to the shallower soils of the high foothill and 
mountain slopes, where the grapes are less in quantity, but of superior 
aromatic quality. This wide adaptation gives an immense area suitable 
for grape culture, but the chief reason for the achievement and the 
promise of the grape in California is in the fact that the European 
species, Vitis vinifera, thrives, and thus the California grower has com- 
mand of all that Europeans have accomplished in centuries by developing 
special varieties of the species for special purposes. The grapes of the 
states cast of the Rocky Mountains are not grown in California because 
the European varieties are the only ones from which raisins can be 
made ; they also furnish the world 's wine and brandy and they give size, 
beauty and shipping quality beyond all comparison with American 
varieties. Wherever wealthy Eastern connoisseurs choose grapes for 
their glass houses they select European varieties ; the Californian grows 
his "hothouse grapes" in the open air. He also grows them without 
the cost of trellising, because most of the European varieties will bear 
well in short-pruned bush form. 

California has a large acreage of grapevines, and planting has been 
very active during the last few years because good prices have usually 
prevailed. The number of acres of table grapes is about 30,000; of 
raisin grapes, 90,000 ; of wine grapes, 150,000. Table grapes are grown 
for local use everywhere and for shipping, chiefly in Sacramento, San 
Joaquin, Placer, Fresno, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz counties, 
although other counties participate in this branch, which sent out of 
the State nearly 3,500 carloads in 1907. 

The raisin interest is chiefly concentrated in the center of the San 
Joaquin Valley in Fresno and Kings counties, though there is a raisin 
product of some moment in the Sacramento Valley and in Southern 
California. The total product of raisins is upwards of 125,000,000 
pounds. 

The wine and brandy interests are widely distributed through the 
length and breadth of the State. The annual product during recent 
year.s is placed at 32,000,000 gallons of wine and 5,700.343 gallons of 
brandy — the latter being exactly known, as it is under the supervision 
of the United States revenue officials. 

SEMI-TROPICAL FRUITS. 

Space will admit only of reference to those fruits of the semi- 
tropical class which have reached considerable commercial importance ; 
others which are at present succeeding with amateurs, and some of 
which may ere long reach economic account, are too numerous for dis- 
cussion. Suffice it to say that the date fruits freely in central parts of 
the State and is now being advanced by systematic effort through 
plantings on the Colorado desert by the United States Department of 
Agriculture. The banana is fruited for home use in many thermal 



HORTICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 55 

situations. The pineapple is grown in frostless places near the coast 
in Southern California. The cherimoyer is found in the markets of Los 
Angeles, while the alligator pear grown in Southern California reaches 
the markets of San Francisco as well. The latter fruit is quite hardy in 
several parts of the State. The guava and the loquat are increasing in 
product and popularity, and new varieties of the latter originated in 
Southern California are likely to be widely known. The persimmon 
and pomegranate grow in nearly all fruit districts, but only a limited 
amount can be profitably disposed of either locally or by distant ship- 
ment. Many other fruits deserve like mention, but must be passed 
over. 

The fig is one of the great fruits of California. Old trees 
Fig. attain the dimensions and aspect of oaks and bear so much 

fruit that it becomes of some importance in swine- feeding. 
The tree is perfectly hardy in all coast and interior situations (except 
in a few places where the temperature falls ten or twelve degrees below 
freezing) and no thought is given to protection. This fact, demon- 
stated more than a century ago by the padres at the old missions, natur- 
ally suggested the fig as a great commercial fruit and for decades it 
has been successfully grown, and trees have been reported to the 
number of 470,381 in nearly all counties except those of the mountains. 
Production has, however, been restricted by the fact that fresh figs 
do not take kindly to long shipment, and by the fact that our dried 
figs did not compare well with the product of Smyrna. This condition 
has, however, been completely changed by the experience of the last 
five years. The fig industry comes upon a new basis through the suc- 
cessful introduction of the pollination insect which is essential to the 
success of the Smyrna fig. California Smyrna figs are now being pro- 
duced in considerable quantities and California is thus equipped to 
enter into competition with the time-honored Asiatic product for the 
world's trade in dried figs. Trees of the true Smyrna varieties, and of 
the wild fig which favors the multiplication of the insect, have been 
growing for years in different parts of the State, but the insect was 
absent and the trees unproductive. With these old plantings and the 
new orchards now being planted, there will be a large product of 
higher-class dried figs than has been produced hitherto. Much interest 
is now being manifested in this enterprise. 

The olive is another fruit which has been successfully 
Olive. grown in California for more than a century. The 

importance of the olive as a food in the south of Europe 
and its standing as an export thence to populous northern countries, 
coupled doubtless with its favored place in song and story, induced a 
premature popularity among California fruit-planters, and experience 
with the fruit has not justified all the expectations cherished for it. 
Planting practically ceased and considerable acreage displaced, but at 
present the olive has a much brighter outlook. There are many difficul- 
ties with the olive which may be briefly mentioned: The popularity 
and acceptability of cheap substitute oils for salad purposes militate 
directly against profitable production of olive oil, because apprecia- 
tion of the superiority of the latter is less liberal than expected ; pickled 
ripe olives are difficult to produce with good keeping qualities; the 



56 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

fruit itself is largely subject to interior decay in advance of maturity ; 
the trees of many varieties which have been largely planted are shy 
in bearing; trees planted in dry places do not grow and bear as prom- 
ised by optimistic promoters ; the work of gathering the fruit and 
securing its products is more difficult and costly than calculated. The 
fact is, the olive was boomed in California among spectacular and 
speculative lines, but the industry is outliving the mistakes which 
have been made. California will produce profitably good olives and 
olive products in suitable places and through the efforts of masterful 
men and women who can rise to the requirements of production and 
protection against imitation articles of the trade. 

Wonderful progress has been made in developing the 
Lemon. lemon industry in California, and imported lemons have 

been measurably displaced from the markets of the 
United States by the California product. Good varieties have been 
secured, and new methods of culture and fruit-handling have been 
devised. The record of planting shows about 1.500,000 trees now 
growing in the State and about 5,000 carloads of the fruit have been 
shipped to distant markets in a single year. Though lemon-growing 
is practiced in most sections where oranges are produced, the present 
product is chiefly made in the three counties of Santa Barbara, Ven- 
tura, and San Diego ; all of them coast counties of Southern California. 
The lemon does best in a practically frostless place, being more tender 
than the orange. For this reason the chief product is in the southern 
coast counties. In suitable situations in the interior, however, the 
lemon does well, but has been largely displaced by the orange, which 
has been on the whole more profitable and is marketable fresh from 
the trees, while the lemon requires curing and a good part of the crop 
has to be held from winter maturity to be sold in the following mid- 
summer, when the chief demand for lemons occurs. 

California has accomplished more with the orange than 
Orange. with any other single fruit, and the advance during the 

last few years has been exceedingly rapid. At present, 
not only is the United States largely supplied with California oranges, 
but the fruit is being successfully sold in England and Germany. 
There are upwards of 10,500,000 trees in the State and the shipment 
beyond State lines has reached 29,497 carloads. Nearly nine tenths 
of this vast amount of fruit comes from Southern California, but 
recent plantings have been largely in the foothills east of the San 
Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys in the central part of the State. 
The orange thrives in suitable situations through a north and south 
distance of over six hundred miles, and the topography of the State 
is such that similar winter and summer temperatures occur all through 
this distance. There is fortunately, however, some difference in the 
ripening of the fruit in the different portions of this belt, and the 
northern portion, because of its mountain environment and distance 
from the ocean, has an earlier spring and summer and is therefore 
able to ripen its oranges for an earlier autumn market. This difference 
distributes the fruit through a greater number of months and is of 
great advantage to the product. In fact, by choice of early and late 



HORTICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. Oi 

varieties, and by using the variation in the season of maturity, California 
can furnish fresh oranges in large quantities all through the calendar 
year and renders the country practically independent of importa- 
tions. Another advantage peculiar to California is that the orange 
grown in a dry summer is more dense in texture and has much better 
keeping and shipping quality than an orange grown in a humid sum- 
mer. The fruit is also more sprightly and refreshing, and though there 
is some controversy over the alleged superior sweetness of the Gulf 
fruit, the demand for the California fruit and the prices which it 
commands are evidences of its wide popularity. Although the California 
growers have made the most energetic and systematic efforts for the 
wide distribution of the product, for several years the fruit has proven 
so acceptable that it is evident that the consuming capacity of the 
United States is still beyond reach and the outlook for the California 
orange is very promising. 

The pomelo, or grape fruit, is also grown in California, but has not 
met the extent of demand which was anticipated, although a certain 
quantity is profitably sold. 

SMALL FRUITS. 

In California the term "small fruits" signifies only berries and 
currants, as the cherry is always classed by us with other great orchard 
fruits and the grape stands alone as the foundation of a great fruit 
industry, as has been indicated. Aside from supplies for home use 
and local markets there is a large field for small-fruit growing for ship- 
ment. Berries are largely used by canners. as is shown by the output 
of 1906, viz. : blackberries, 68,675 cases ; strawberries, 22,280 cases ; 
raspberries and loganberries, 21,895 cases. Small fruits are also 
shipped from California to markets from one to two thousand miles 
distant in the interior states and territories to the north and east. The 
earlier ripening of these fruits in California gives our shippers an 
opportunity to place the product in this vast region, although there 
are home-grown supplies later in the year. The growing of small 
fruits is scattered over the State, and the special regions are widely 
distant from each other. The most prominent for strawberries are the 
San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles County, the Pajaro Valley in Santa 
Cruz and Monterey counties, and the Florin section in Sacramento 
County. There are, however, many places which have a smaller acreage, 
but special reputation for fruit out of season; in fact, it is possible to 
find ripe strawberries every month in the year at some point or other in 
the State. 

A GENERAL REMARK. 

On the whole, the fruit products of California are being easily dis- 
posed of at fairly remunerative rates, and the business is in good heart 
and enjoys a good outlook. There is, of course, fluctuation in the 
values of different fruits and in the market conditions which they 
meet at distant points. Such "off years" strike the fruits somewhat 
irregularly and are discouraging first to one special grower and then 
to another, and as our localities are largely given to specializing, 



58 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

according to favoring culture conditions, there is opportunity for com- 
plaint somewhere nearly every year. Still, we find that our fruit-grow- 
ing districts have the busiest towns, the handsomest rural improvements, 
the largest assessment rolls, and are most attractive to homeseekers. 
While these things are true our fruit industries must be counted in 
prosperous condition, although the greatest anticipations are not always 
realized. 



THE CITRUS FRUIT INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA. 



By B. A. WOODFORD, 

General Manager California Fruit-Growers' Exchange. 



The growing of citrus fruits in California dates back approximately 
one hundred years, although the business only assumed commercial 
proportions some twenty-five years ago, and its great development has 
come within the last ten years. 

It is proper to divide the citrus fruit industry into three parts ; the 
orange, the lemon, and grape fruit. 

THE ORANGE. 

Although all known varieties of oranges are grown in California in 
greater or less degree, more than ninety per cent of the entire output is 
composed of the Washington Navel and Valencia Late, the principal 
commercial varieties; the former maturing from November until June, 
and the latter from June to November. The Washington Navel has been 
for many years the leader among California citrus fruits and firmly 
established in the markets of the entire country. Full sixty-five per cent 
of the entire output of the State is of this variety, and not only has 
the superiority of this fruit captured practically all the markets of the 
United States, but also those of Canada. The Navel orange is not 
unknown in England, and its popularity is gradually extending to 
various other European countries. 

The Valencia Late ten years ago was comparatively unknown in this 
country, the output at that time being very small. Realizing its value, 
however, as a summer and fall orange, a considerable acreage was set by 
the more enterprising California growers, with a result that to-day fully 
fifteen per cent of all orange shipments are of this variety. The demand 
for it is becoming general throughout the entire United States, and its 
relative importance has increased in the last few years more rapidly 
than that of any other variety of citrus fruit. It is not unreasonable 
to suppose that in another ten or fifteen years the quantity of Valencia 
Lates marketed annually will at least equal the present output of Wash- 
ington Navels. 

Other varieties are shipped in commercial quantity, the most impor- 
tant of which are the Seedling, Mediterranean Sweet, different varieties 
of Blood Oranges, Saint Michaels, Tangerines, Mandarins, and others 
in lesser quantities. 



THE CITRUS FRUIT INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA. 



59 



By far the greater portion of the orange crop is grown in Los 
Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange, and Tulare counties, 
although many other counties produce a considerable commercial quan- 
tity. Many sections of the state that were formerly not considered suit- 
able for growing citrus fruits have during the last few years come into 
prominence and are now fully proven in a commercial way. Notably 
among these is the great foothill section of the upper San Joaquin Val- 
ley, including such points as Porterville, Lindsay and Exeter in Tulare 
County, and choice foothill locations in Sacramento and Butte counties. 
Approximately fifteen per cent of the entire citrus fruit acreage of Cali- 
fornia is located in these new sections. 

The entire output of oranges of all varieties has increased in the last 




SETTING OUT THE TREES. 



ten years from three and one half million boxes in 1899, to ten and one 
half million boxes in 1908. The value of the California orange crop 
f. o. b. cars for shipment during last season was approximately 
$17,000,000. 

THE LEMON. 

A relatively small quantity of lemons had been produced in Cali- 
fornia for many years prior to 1890, but the planting did not become 
general until about 1886 to 1892, during which period some ten to 
fifteen thousand acres were set. Methods of picking, packing and 
shipping were not of the best in the early years of the lemon industry. 
The California product was unknown in the eastern markets, where the 
foreign or Sicily lemon was supreme, and when this large new acreage 
came into bearing the supply exceeded the demand, and until the season 



60 



CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



of 1905 the difficulties of the lemon-grower were many and it was a 
question if the industry would survive. During the last few years, how- 
ever, under better handling methods and the help of a protective duty 
of one cent per pound imposed on imports, the situation is in far 
better shape and there is an excellent prospect of the further develop- 
ment of the California lemon, until instead of supplying forty per cent 
of the quantity consumed in the United States, as at present, we shall 
supply practically the entire needs of this country. The output 
increased from 300,000 boxes in 1899 to 1,600,000 in 1908, the value of 




IRRIGATING THE TREES. 

the total crop during the latter season being approximately $3,000,000 
f. o. b. 

GRAPE FRUIT. 

The California grape fruit industry has not yet assumed great pro- 
portions, due largely to the fact that the wrong variety was generally 
planted in the early days, and in many instances on the wrong kind of 
soil. The grape fruit that is most popular, both on the Pacific coast 
and throughout the East, is that variety known as Marsh's Seedless. 
The demand for this variety exceeds the supply many times over. Grape 
fruit is thinner skinned, of finer texture and of better quality if grown 
upon an open, porous soil, something that our orchardists have only dis- 
covered in recent years. There is every prospect of the rapid develop- 
ment of this particular part of the citrus industry in the near future 
and on a profitable basis. 

One of the peculiar features of the. citrus industry in California is 
the superiority of the "seedless" variety over any other, in oranges, 
lemons and grape fruit alike. It is a fact perhaps not generally remem- 



THE CITRUS FRUIT INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA. 



61 



berecl that not only is the Washington Navel orange entirely free from 
seeds, but the Valencia Late is nearly so, and the principal commercial 
varieties of California lemons have but few seeds. 

I have already stated that Seedless Grape Fruit is the best California 
variety, and it is evidently a fact that the citrus fruits of all kinds 
that have no seeds are the ones on which the future reputation of the 
State as a citrus-producing section will be maintained. 

The growing of citrus fruits in California is one of the most enjoy- 
able vocations open to mankind, and being an industry which is now 




A THRIFTY YOUNG ORCHARD. 



recognized as one of the substantial, legitimate businesses of the State, 
returning a fair investment on the capital employed, many are turning 
their attention to it. Under the intense system of cultivation practiced 
it is possible to obtain as great a net remuneration from ten or twenty 
acres of ground in citrus fruits in full bearing as would usually be 
produced from one 160 or even 320-acre farm growing ordinary farm 
products. 

With exemption from the cold storms of the north and east and the 
most equable climate under the sun, being, comparatively speaking, 
warm in winter and relatively cool in summer, great and prosperous 
communities have grown up in the citrus producing sections, numerous 
cities of from five to fifteen thousand inhabitants dependent wholly 
upon the growing and packing of citrus fruits being the result. 

It is estimated that in California more than 100,000 people are to-day 
directly dependent upon the citrus fruit industry and more than 100,000 
additional persons indirectly so. During the last ten years more than 
$100,000,000 has been paid to the transportation companies for hauling 



62 



CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



California oranges and lemons to market and another $100,000,000 to 
labor in the growing and packing of these fruits. The supplies used 
in packing, including boxes, paper, nails, etc., amount to another 
$20,000,000 during the ten years, enough remaining from proceeds of 
sale to pay a good rate of interest on their investments to the owners 
of the property themselves. 

The shipments of citrus fruits from California last season approxi- 
mated 32,500 carloads, each car containing about 400 boxes. In the 
packing of this fruit there was used more than 3,000 carloads of shook 



&&&& 




PICKING THE FRUIT. 



for boxes; 300 carloads of paper, 30 carloads of nails; and 15 carloads 
of labels. 

There is now invested in the citrus fruit industry $125,000,000 in 
the orchards themselves, and more than $2,000,000 in packing houses 
and machinery. 

It has recently been demonstrated that the consumption of citrus fruits, 
particularly oranges, can be materially increased through advertising, 
and I do not believe it is unreasonable to expect that a thorough and 
complete advertising campaign throughout the country would double 
the consumption, without any corresponding decrease in price to the 
producer. 

If the past ten years can be taken as a criterion by which to judge the 
future of the business, its development during the next twenty to thirty 
years should be on such a scale that in 1930, the annual value of the 
California citrus product should reach more than $50,000,000, as 
against the $20,000,000 received for the crop during the year 1908. 



RAISIN GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 63 



RAISIN GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 



By D. D. ALLISON. 



During the latter part of August or the beginning of September 
raisin grapes are generally ripe enough to be picked. Picking usually 
commences when the sugar test registers twenty-four per cent by the 
saccharometer. Having satisfied himself on that important point the 
vineyardist makes arrangements for the pickers. The pickers take two 
rows of vines apiece for convenience, and (in a squatting position, with 
a small knife they dexterously sever each bunch of grapes from the 
vine, laying it carefully on the tray, placing all the stems in the same 
direction. After the picking is finished the trays of grapes are left 
between the rows of vines to be dried by the sun, and herein lies the 
particular advantage of that section of the San Joaquin Valley com- 
posed of the counties of Fresno, Kings, Madera, and Tulare. In order 
to successfully evaporate the moisture contained in the grape when 
picked it is necessary for the fruit to be exposed to as dry a heat as 
possible. In the counties mentioned above, situate in the heart of the 
San Joaquin Valley, the sky is cloudless the greater part of the year, 
and the humidity is at a minimum. The United States Weather 
Bureau record shows as low a percentage of humidity as six per cent. 
Such a low percentage is almost unheard of in any other portion of the 
globe, which is the reason why the excessively high temperature does 
not affect human health or comfort. In this locality, when the temper- 
ature registers 110 degrees, which it occasionally does during an 
excessively hot wave, the effect is not at all similar to that produced 
by the hot waves so often experienced in the states east of the Kocky 
Mountains. Sunstrokes or prostrations from heat are entirely unknown, 
and no matter how hot the hours of sunlight may be, it rarely happens 
that a refreshing cool breeze fails to blow throughout the night. 

The average time required to dry the crop is about three weeks. 
The grapes are left on the trays for about fifteen days (according to 
the degree of temperature) , and then turned by placing an empty tray 
on top of a full one, and by a dexterous turn reversing them, leaving 
the grapes with the undried side exposed to the sun. They are allowed 
to remain in this position until dried, usually taking six or eight days. 
The trays are then stacked in piles of from twenty to thirty, where 
they are left to go through what is termed the sweating process. After 
a few days the raisins are ready to be transferred to the sweat-boxes, 
generally holding about one hundred and forty pounds to a box, and 
then hauled to the nearest packing-house to be stemmed. 

Arriving at the packing-house the raisins are weighed, and are thence 
trucked to the stemming machine, where the stems are separated from 
the raisins; the latter being carried by an endless belt and run over 
different sized screens, which grade them in sizes. They then run 
through spouts into boxes, holding fifty pounds each. If to be shipped 
as loose raisins, the boxes are immediately nailed up ready for ship- 
ment. If to be placed on the market in the form of seeded raisins, they 



64 



CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



are transferred to the seeding plant (although only a recent invention, 
no packing-house is now considered complete without such a plant), 
where they are placed in a drier, and all moisture thoroughly evap- 
orated. It is necessary to have them perfectly dry and brittle in order to 
remove the capstem from the end of each raisin, and also remove every 
particle of dirt or dust. From this machine they are transferred to 
the steaming-house, where they are made pliable with steam so that 
the seeds may be removed without any unnecessary tearing or bruising 
of the berry. They are now transferred to the seeding-machine proper, 
where they are run between rubber rollers and carried under a row of 
miniature saws and punctured, and the seeds forced out by another 
mechanical appliance. Continuing on their journey, they arrive at 




PICKING AND CURING RAISINS. 



the packing table, where they are packed in cartons weighing one 
pound each, thirty-six cartons being placed in each commercial case, 
in which condition they are ready for the market. It is only seven 
.years since the seeding of raisins was first successfully accomplished, 
300 tons being placed on the market in that year ; whereas, in the year 
1902, there was shipped from the seeding plants of Fresno alone a total 
of 22,000 tons. Such is a brief explanation of the manner in which 
seeded raisins are prepared for market. 

"We will now return to the vineyard, where the men are busily 
engaged in transferring the raisins from the trays to the sweat-boxes. 
It is generally profitable to pay pickers an extra charge for sorting 
from the trays all large and fancy bunches, called clusters and layers, 
into separate boxes. These bunches are put up in fancy brands, 
viz. : Imperial, Dehesa and Fancy Clusters and three- and two-crown 



RAISIN GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 



65 



London Layers, according to quality or grade. For the finest clusters 
the vineyardist Mill generally receive two or three times as much as 
for the ordinary loose raisins. Since the introduction of seeded raisins 
the demand for the lower grades of layer raisins has diminished. 

In addition to the grapes that are picked and converted into raisins 
there is usually what is termed the second crop, which ripens about a 
month later than the first crop on the same vines. This crop is seldom 




CURING RAISINS. 



made into raisins, the bulk of it going to the wineries to be converted 
into grape brandy and for which usually a fair price is paid, frequently 
netting sufficient to pay for the curing of the first crop. 

The work of harvesting the crop, etc., is usually completed by the 
first to the tenth of November, and you can then occupy your time as 
you desire until the following early spring, as there is little of import- 
ance to do until the time for pruning arrives, which is usually the 
latter part of January or the beginning of February. 

The difference in the appearance of a California raisin vineyard 
5 



66 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

before and after pruning is remarkable; for, whereas, prior to the 
foliage dropping, the canes usually reach six and eight feet from the 
body of the vine, making the vineyard almost a solid mass of green, 
after pruning the vineyard has the appearance of a field of dried-up 
stumps. On each vine has been left a few spurs, about two inches long, 
all the balance of the wood or canes having been cut away. It is hard 
for a stranger to realize that a field of apparently dry stumps can 
produce the crop of grapes in so short a space of time as they do in 
California. 

After the pruning of the vines and burning of the brush are finished, 
plowing and cross-plowing are commenced, and then a thorough culti- 
vation, leaving the vineyards in as finely pulverized and mellow condi- 
tion as possible. Hoeing around the base of the vine, where the plow 
and cultivator can not reach, is then done, and next the suckers that 
have started are pulled off. If the vineyard is well taken care of and in 
a healthy condition there is little more to do until it is time to pick, 
except an occasional cultivation for the purpose of keeping the soil 
mellow and of checking any new growth of weeds that may start where 
the ground is unusually moist. 

For the benefit of those who are not familiar with the principal 
raisin sections of California it may prove interesting, and even a sur- 
prise, that the average rainfall is less than ten inches per year. The 
rainfall during the ten months ending March 1, 1904, was only four 
inches ; and yet, vineyardists did not worry, for, so long as nature 
stores its water supply on the summit of the mountains in the form of 
snow, they realize that there is no occasion for alarm. 

Prior to the year 1875 the vicinity in which this article is written 
was a desert the greater part of the year; the pasturing of sheep and 
cattle for three or four months of the winter and spring being the only 
use to which it was put. It was not until irrigation was adopted that 
the wonderful fertility of the soil became known. Then was com- 
menced that stupendous system of irrigation which has been the marvel 
and admiration of the world, and which has transformed a waste into 
an amazingly fruitful region. 

Previous to the inauguration of irrigation one would have to sink 
a well from forty to sixty feet before striking water, whereas, at the 
present time, water can be found a few feet from the surface, the 
soil having become saturated with the seepage from the many irrigation 
ditches. 

It is not the intention nor the desire of the writer to convey the 
impression that, having secured a tract of land for a vineyard, or hav- 
ing purchased one already planted, responsibility and care cease. On 
the contrary, it requires energy, attention, intelligence and patience 
to make an investment in a raisin vineyard profitable. Nature does 
a great deal for the tiller of the soil in California, but to reap satisfac- 
tory returns from an investment in her lands close attention must be 
devoted to every detail. 

To the intending settler the writer will offer the following advice — 
and it is for those of limited means that this article is more particu- 
larly intended: 

Do not be in too great hurry to invest; take time to investigate the 



RAISIN GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 



G7 



adaptability of the soil to your requirements. Be patient, and endeavor 
to gather information from those having practical knowledge in the 
particular branch which you intend to follow. If your means are 
limited, and you do not feel above gaining knowledge from practical 
experience, make up your mind to work on a vineyard for a time. You 
will thus not only gain a knowledge of the method of earing for a 
vineyard, but you will discover that the men with whom you come in 
contact in the ranks of hired help are sometimes better informed as 
to the matters which you desire to know than are some of the men who 
own thousands of acres. 

As already stated, the estimated number of acres planted to the 
raisin grape in the State of California is 70,000. They are owned by 




STEMMING AND PACKING RAISINS. 



about three thousand individuals. In this estimate there is to be consid- 
ered a large number of landowners who follow diversified farming. 

The price of land in its natural condition varies according to location 
and quality. Land located near a town is naturally considered of more 
value than that at a distance, although the net returns may be less; 
and to an intending purchaser for agricultural purposes of any descrip- 
tion, considering the usual difference in price, unless amply provided 
with means and not entirely dependent upon the returns of your 
investment, it would be advisable to purchase a similar quality of land 
at a less price per acre farther removed from town. Unimproved land 
suitable for vineyard purposes can be secured for from $40 to $100 
per acre. After properly preparing the land and planting the vines 
it usually takes from three to four years for profitable returns ; but by 
planting the vineyard by degrees and practicing diversified farming, 



68 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

a person can realize reasonable returns right along until the vines come 
into bearing. 

The best guide for a stranger as to whether a particular locality is 
prosperous is to note the condition of its public buildings, school- 
houses, churches, banks, public library; its streets, street-car service, 
railroad facilities, and its residences; and in driving through the sur- 
rounding country note if the school facilities are ample, and if the 
houses are neat and attractive; also, if the general surroundings have 
an air of thrift. If, upon taking note of these points you form a favor- 
able opinion, you may conclude that it is a safe section in which to 
invest and to make your future home. 

In the San Joaquin Valley are to be found vineyards of from five to 
one thousand acres, in the highest state of cultivation, without a weed 
in sight and every row of vines in perfect alignment and every plant 
of uniform size, giving one the impression that it is an immense garden 
instead of fruit fields maintained for profit. Whether of* large or 
small acreage you will invariably find the vineyards and orchards 
equally well taken care of in every particular. 

Some who read this article may have had their attention called to 
some particular instance of phenomenal yield that has been published 
through the newspapers. Such articles are oftentimes misleading. The 
writer of this article can quote like instances that would hardly be 
credited, yet which, notwithstanding they would be absolutely true, 
would be entirely misleading. 

This article has not been written for the purpose of booming any 
location or section of California, nor to advertise any tract of land. 
On the contrary, it has been written for the sole purpose of giving 
reliable and trustworthy information to intending settlers, those who 
from choice may desire to engage in the raisin industry — the same 
advice that the writer would desire should he be looking up the advan- 
tages of a place with which he is not familiar. It needs no exaggeration 
of facts to sing the praises of the productiveness of California's soil. 



THE FIG IN CALIFORNIA. 



By GEORGE C. ROEDING, 

Chief of the Department of Horticulture. 



No fruit has appealed more to the horticulturist than the fig. It is 
easy of culture, adapting itself to a variety of soils, and the expense of 
harvesting is very light as compared with many other fruits. Naturally 
the great desire of growers of figs is to produce a fruit equal in flavor 
to the far-famed Smyrna variety from Asia Minor. 

In the year 1880 the San Francisco Bulletin Company, backed by the 
late Senator Leland Stanford, made the first importation of fig cuttings 
from Asia Minor, and a few years later another shipment was made. 
These trees were distributed to subscribers of the Bulletin throughout 



THE FIG IN CALIFORNIA. (i!) 

the State. When the trees were old enough to hear, the fruit, after 
attaining the size of a marble, shriveled and dropped. Those who 
planted the trees concluded that they had been duped. Many of the 
trees were dug up and destroyed in consequence, although isolated speci- 
mens are still to be found, the largest number being on the Vina ranch, 
belonging to the Stanford estate. These trees were planted in out-of- 
the-way places and have received little or no care. The wily Smyrnaites 
evidently did all they could to prevent cuttings of the genuine com- 
mercial variety being exported, for the trees growing at Vina are badly 
mixed, consisting of a number of varieties. There are a few of the 
genuine commercial figs growing there, but they are the exception rather 
than the rule. 

The next variety to attract attention was the "White Adriatic, a Del- 
matian sort, and it was extensively planted from 1884 to 1890. When 
the trees came into bearing and the fruit was found to be inferior to 
the imported figs, no matter how processed, growers concluded that 
Smyrna figs could not be grown here, conditions apparently not being 
favorable for their successful culture. Nevertheless, quite an extensive 
business was built up in Adriatic figs. The shipments are in the 
neighborhood of 2,500 tons annually. The jobbing trade in the Eastern 
States regarded California figs as a joke, and it was the consensus of 
opinion that California would never succeed in placing on the market a 
fig equal in flavor to the imported. 

In the year 1885 F. Roeding, of the Fancher Creek Nurseries of 
Fresno, having come to the conclusion that none of the figs grown in 
California were of the same variety as the fig of commeree, decided to 
send his foreman to Smyrna to make a personal investigation and to 
secure cuttings of the very best varieties. After remaining a year in 
the nursery, the first orchard, consisting of twenty acres, was planted in 
1887 from these cuttings. In addition to this, there were planted about 
forty caprifig trees. 

The tree producing the caprifigs is necessary for the production of the 
Smyrna fig. Without caprifigs Smyrna figs can not be produced. It is 
in this one respect that the Smyrna type of figs differs from all others ; 
for unless the female flowers of this fig are fertilized by the pollen of the 
caprifigs, the fruit shrivels and drops when one third grown. In other 
varieties of fruits in which the flowers are exposed any ordinary insect 
can convey the pollen from the male to the female ; but in the fig, all 
the flowers are inclosed, and it is only through the agency of a little 
wasp-like insect which makes its home in the caprifig that the pollination 
of the flowers of the edible fig can take place. The caprifig trees pro- 
duce a succession of crops during the season, and for every crop of figs 
there is a new generation of insects. 

The first caprifigs make their appearance in March, as soon as the new 
growth starts on the trees. These figs are in the receptive stage in the 
latter part of April. The female wasp, which is winged, enters this fig 
at this time and deposits her eggs in the gall flower, as it is called, and 
then perishes in the fig to which it has intrusted its offspring. This 
fig reaches maturity in the early part of June, and at this time the male, 
or staminate, blossoms are mature and covered with pollen. There are 
both male and female wasps, each doing its share in carrying on the 
work to a successful completion. The male wasp issues first from the 



70 



CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS. RESOURCES, ETC. 



galls, crawls (it is wingless) around in the fig, locates the galls in which 
the female lies, cuts into them with its powerful mandibles, and impreg- 
nates the female. The female enlarges the opening made by the male, 
crawls out of the gall, and then passes through the orifice of the caprifig, 
which is then large enough to admit of an easy exit. In leaving the fig 
its body and wings become covered with pollen from the male flowers, 
which occupy a zone in the fruit immediately surrounding this opening. 
This is one of the most interesting phases in connection with the growing 
of Smyrna figs. The caprifigs at this time are plucked from the trees/ 
threaded on reeds or raffia fiber, and suspended in the Smyrna trees. 
The female flowers of the Smyrna fig are in the receptive stage at this 
time, and the little wasp forces its way through the almost closed orifice 




PACKING FIGS. 



of the fig, in many cases breaking off its wings in its eagerness to make 
an entrance. It crawls around in the fig, passing over the numerous 
female flowers, trying to find a place to deposit its eggs. The flowers 
are so constructed that it can not do so. The insect, although prevented 
from carrying out its object, proves a benefit to mankind, for every fig 
entered matures into a luscious fruit, with fertile seeds. A few days 
after an insect has entered, the fig commences to develop and expand, 
assuming a bright, healthy and vigorous appearance, while the figs 
w T hich the insect has not penetrated have a sickly, yellowish-green color, 
and soon drop to the ground. The insect, after performing its function, 
leaves the fig and dies. 

The question now arises as to the manner in which the insect per- 
petuates its species. All of the caprifigs are not picked from the wild 
or male trees, as they are often designated. A few of the late maturing 



THE FIG IN CALIFORNIA. 71 

ones of this crop are allowed to remain, and from these the female insect 
issues and passes into the new crop of figs appearing on the same tree. 
Here it deposits its eggs in the gall flowers, and thus provides for a new 
generation of wasps. When this crop is mature, which usually takes 
six weeks, another crop of figs appears on the wild fig trees, which the 
insect enters. The final crop, which makes its appearance the latter 
part of September, remains on the trees all the winter, the insect remain- 
ing in this crop in the larva form until the spring crop, already referred 
to, commences to develop. This, then, briefly describes the life history 
of this wonderful insect, around which the success of a great and 
important industry centers. 

The only season in the year in which the caprifigs are distributed in 
the Smyrna fig trees in the month of June. Two or three distribu- 
tions are made at this time, at a cost, even in an old orchard of ten to 
fourteen years, not exceeding $1 per acre. From six to ten figs are 
placed in a tree at each distribution of the caprifigs, the number varying 
according to the size of the tree. Each caprifig contains from three 
hundred to one thousand insects. 

The Smyrna figs commence to ripen from the middle to the latter part 
of August, and continue until October 1st. The fact that these figs do 
not all mature at the same time is a very important feature and one 
which will appeal to every fruit-grower. It means that a very large 
crop of fruit can be harvested with a small force of men, or even 
children, at a minimum expense. These figs must not be picked from 
the trees, but allowed to drop to the ground of their own accord. This 
they will not do until they have shriveled and lost their form. Occa- 
sionally a fig will be seen which does not drop readily. A slight jar 
to the tree, or tapping the fig with a light bamboo pole, will cause it to 
fall. The figs are gathered in small buckets, and later are taken to the 
drying ground in picking-boxes. Before placing the figs on the trays 
they are immersed for half a minute in a boiling-hot brine containing 
about three ounces of salt to the gallon of water. After a few days' 
exposure to the sun they are taken to a room sealed tight with tongue- 
and-grooved lumber and placed in a large pile. Here they remain for 
ten days, being turned occasionally. This sweating, as it is termed, 
equalizes the amount of moisture in the fruit ; overdried figs absorbing 
moisture from those which are too wet, and vice versa. Before the figs 
are taken to the packing-house they are washed in a weak cold brine; 
the overdried figs, called floaters, are removed as they float to the top, 
and the others are given a good rubbing between the hands. This 
removes the dirt which may have gathered on them in the course of 
drying. After exposure to the sun for a half-day, to allow the super- 
fluous moisture to evaporate, they are dumped into boxes and hauled 
to the packing-house. 

The packing is done by women and girls. Every effort is made to 
have the fruit in the best of condition and perfectly clean. Just prior 
to being taken to the packing-table the figs are given a steam bath. 
This cleanses them thoroughly and heats the fruit through, and should 
any insect have laid its egg in the fruit during the course of drying, the 
germ is destroyed. No such care is exercised by either the growers or 
packers in Smyrna, and in consequence the imported figs are sometimes 
not only wormy, but dirty as well, due to the crude manner of handling. 



72 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

The figs are packed in pound and half-pound paper cartons, which are 
in turn packed in wooden boxes holding ten pounds each. So much for 
our method. Contrast it with the method followed in Smyrna. There 
the figs are dried on rushes, on an open place in the 
The Fig in orchard where a few trees have died. When sufficiently 
Smyrna. dried the fruit is dumped on the ground in any convenient 

old shed and allowed to remain until enough has accumu- 
lated, when it is gathered in horsehair sacks holding about two hundred 
pounds each. These sacks are very strong and quite expensive, and are 
very desirable for the transportation of figs, for they have no lint like 
burlap sacks. These figs are carried on the backs of camels to the 
nearest railroad station, a camel-load being two such sacks. A camel 
train usually consists of from six to ten camels. It is quite a novel 
sight to see these ungainly creatures shambling along with their big 
loads, the caravaneer riding in the lead on a small donkey, perched high 
on a peculiarly elevated and ungainly saddle. During the season the 
Ottoman railway, which traverses the entire fig district, sends trains 
daily from the most important point in the Meander Valley, and it is 
no uncommon occurrence to have from 1,500 to 2,000 tons of figs 
delivered in Smyrna in a single day. All of the fig-packing is carried 
on in Smyrna, a city of 400,000 inhabitants, and located on the coast 
about forty miles from the fig districts. The figs, on reaching Smyrna, 
are again conveyed on the backs of camels to the fig bazaar, or to the 
packing-houses if they have been sold to any particular packer. They 
are dumped on the floor in immense masses about three feet deep. 
Before packing the figs are sorted into sizes and suppled by women and 
girls, who receive fifteen to twenty cents a day. The packing is done 
entirely by men. Neither men nor women are any too clean about their 
person. A Smyrnaite never eats packed figs. You ask him why, and a 
shrug of the shoulders is your answer. The only time water touches the 
figs is when the packers moisten their fingers in the sea water, which is 
hauled in hogsheads from the quay, into which all the sewers of Smyrna 
empty. 

It is a well-known fact that all imported figs are wormy. Most of the 
worms leave them while they are in transit, and it is rare that the 
consumer sees any of the worms in the figs he is eating. It is generally 
supposed by the packers of Smyrna that this worm is a natural product 
of the fig, resulting from an egg laid by the fig wasp. However, this is 
entirely incorrect, for the worm comes from an insect laying its eggs in 
the fruit during the process of drying. 

To produce a good article is always a source of satisfac- 
Commercial tion. but there must be another incentive. The industry 
Value must be profitable. No business can succeed or make any 

of Figs. advance unless it pays. The question arises, Will fig- 

growing in California pay ? True, we must compete with 
the cheap labor of Europe, but this has been the fact in other branches 
of fruit growing. We are competing in many branches, and our fruit 
sells in competition with the best that is produced in the Old World. 
Although our wages are much higher it must be remembered that our 
help is more efficient, and this, combined with the advanced methods of 
handling, places us in a position to compete in figs as well as in other 
fruit. 



THE FIG IN CALIFORNIA. 73 

It has been demonstrated that Adriatic figs at three cents a pound 
are more profitable than raisins at five cents. Smyrna figs can be raised 
fully as cheap as Adriatic figs, the only additional expense being caprifi- 
cation; but as this does not cost over two cents a tree at the very out- 
side, it is a matter not worthy of consideration. It is safe to assume 
that Smyrna figs, even when produced in large quantities, will never 
bring less than three cents per pound, and for many years to come five 
cents per pound will be a more likely average. No class of dried fruit 
outside of the fig possesses so many dietary qualities, and with a good 
article on the market, there is an unlimited field for expansion. With 
the figs which were being marketed from this State prior to the success- 
ful establishment of the Smyrna-fig industry there was no hope for the 
future. It is now conceded that this trouble was due to ou* not having 
the right variety and to no other cause. It does not indicate, because 
a fig is of the Smyrna type, that it necessarily is the variety for drying, 
any more than that one of our June peaches is a good drying or canning 
peach. Thus far there has only been one variety of any value for dry- 
ing purposes, and this has been designated as the "Calimyrna." This 
is the identical variety grown in Smyrna under the name of "Lop 
Injir, " which is the only fig used for export. The name "Calimyrna" 
is copyrighted, and is a contraction of the two words "California" and 
' ' Smyrna. ' ' The name Calimyrna has already made its impression on 
the trade, and is recognized as the only fig grown in California worthy 
of being classed as a true commercial product. 

There are thousands of acres of land in California, in 
Fig Land in the interior valleys, in which the fig can be grown success- 
California, fully and profitably. True, the fig will grow any place 

in the State where the temperature does not go below 
eighteen degrees Fahrenheit. As a commercial proposition it must have 
a dry, warm climate during the summer months, and it will therefore 
always find its most congenial location in the Sacramento and San 
Joaquin valleys, and in the foothills where such conditions exist. The 
trees will grow on either wet or dry soils, but a deep warm soil with 
good drainage will always produce the best fruit. No orchard can be 
raised with so small an expense as a fig. Good cultivation is of course 
important, but outside of this and irrigation, the other expenses are very 
light. Pruning is a small item ; no spraying is necessary, for the trees 
are never subject to attack by insect pests. 

The importation of figs into the United States amounts to over 
$800,000 annually. This alone demonstrates that there is an opening 
for the development of this industry. There is no fruit which can be 
put to such a variety of uses as the fig, and the demand for this fruit 
canned or preserved has never been satisfied, even with the ordinary figs. 



74 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



THE OLIVE IN CALIFORNIA. 



By GEORGE C. ROEDING, 

Chief of the Department of Horticulture. 



The first olive trees to be planted in California were introduced about 
1770 by the Spanish padres. As the padres gradually pushed north- 
ward the olive tree continued to be a part of their fruit gardens, its 
product forming not only an important feature in the culinary depart- 
ment, but having an additional value for use in their religious cere- 
monies. Some of the olive trees planted by the padres are still to be 
found at several of the ruined missions, and although receiving practi- 
cally no care, they continue to yield fruit, bearing ample testimony to 
their longevity. 

The Redding Picholine, deriving its prefix from the name of the 
introducer, was the first variety of olive sought to be planted extensively 
in California, it being claimed that it was valuable for both oil and 
pickles. Experience later showed that it was of no value for the last 
named purpose, as it was too small. In later years it was grafted over 
to more desirable varieties. As it adapted itself so well to our condi- 
tions, the future seemed to be full of promise for the olive business, and 
varieties were imported from Italy, Spain, and France. Within a few 
years these were widely distributed over the State before their commer- 
cial value had been fully determined. The invariable result followed. 
Many growers found they had planted varieties which would not produce 
well, or which did not fulfill the recommendations of the introducer. 

This has been the experience in all lines of fruit-growing in Cali- 
fornia. The novice always wants to plant a large number of varieties, 
believing that by so doing he will be assured of a crop, as all of them 
will not fail to bear. Instead of this being the case, there is never 
enough of any one variety to make it an object for a dealer to handle 
the crop. As a consequence, orchards in many instances have been 
uprooted and other varieties of fruits planted in their place. 

Another serious drawback to the olive industry was the infestation 
of the trees in the coast counties with black scale. This pest has noAv 
been overcome by the introduction of the Scutellista cyanea, a small 
parasitic fly which lays its eggs in the scales, the larva? later eating the 
scales. 

The growers who have remained in the business and who have faith 
in its future have come to the conclusion that varieties adapted to either 
oil or pickling purposes are the ones to plant. The Mission olive (the 
one introduced by the padres) takes precedence over all others, and 
this is followed by the Manzanillo and Nevadillo Blanco. For pickling 
purposes alone the Ascolano, Obliza, St. Agostino, and Servillano will 
no doubt receive more attention as the industry grows. The last named 
variety is the one so extensively exported from Spain under the name of 
"Queen Olive." 

Olives find conditions congenial to their successful culture as far 



THE OLIVE IN CALIFORNIA. 



75 



south as San Diego, and northward under the very brow of Mount 
Shasta. However, the interior valleys and a good, warm foothill location 
seem to present conditions more favorable to the growing of the olive 
than the coast counties; the trees not only develop faster and produce 
larger crops, but the fruit averages larger in size and matures earlier, 
thus escaping injury from frost — a point which must have very careful 
consideration when olives are grown for pickling. It has been found 
that olives can not be grown profitably on rocky hillsides; but when 
planted in a deep, warm alluvial soil, they respond to good cultivation 
as readily as any other fruit. Where sufficient moisture is not supplied 
by the season 's rainfall irrigation must be resorted to. 

In Italy the seeds of a thrifty wild stock are planted, and when large 




SORTING OLIVES. 



enough are either budded or grafted. The trees are grown exclusively in 
pots, and it takes about six years before they are ready for the market. 
In California trees are sometimes grown in this manner, except that the 
seedlings are planted in the open, in nursery rows, and the budding or 
grafting is done there, with the result that trees are grown in just about 
half the time. The most popular method of propagating olives is to 
grow them from soft wood cuttings, which are planted in sand, either on 
the bench of a propagating house, or in flat boxes about four inches 
deep. These boxes are then placed on hotbeds under glass, and after 
about five months the cuttings commence to make root. The following 
season they are planted in nursery rows. A four-year-old tree has been 
found to be the most satisfactory for transplanting to the orchard. The 
trees should be planted about twenty-five feet apart. In former years 
closer planting was followed, but this was a mistake, and our horticul- 



76 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

turists are becoming more and more impressed with the fact that better 
results are secured when trees are given more room in which to develop. 

A properly pruned olive orchard presents a striking feature in our 
rural landscape ; the green of the foliage is so distinct and unlike that 
of other varieties of fruit trees that the contrast is a most pleasing- one. 
To begin with, the tree should be headed low, not over eighteen inches 
from the ground, and a systematic method of shortening in and thin- 
ning out of the lateral branches should be followed the first four seasons 
in order to develop a well-shaped, vase-formed head. The prevailing 
idea that an olive tree requires no pruning is erroneous, for without it 
the tree sends up a mass of straight shoots, which, if allowed to grow 
unchecked, will present a bare and unsightly appearance, and the only 
fruit-bearing wood will be at the tips of the branches, and there will be 
very little even of this. If the tree has been properly trained while 
young the pruning in later years will be an easy matter and the fruit- 
bearing branches will extend from close to the ground to the very top 
of the tree — an ideal condition. 

An olive tree will commence to bear four years after planting, and 
will be in full bearing in about ten years. Twenty pounds of fruit is 
a conservative estimate at four years, and this will increase each 
season until the full bearing age, when one hundred and fifty pounds 
per tree is a fair average crop. The olive, unlike other fruit trees, does 
not bear in uniformity. It often happens that with two trees of the 
same kind and apparently of equal thriftiness, one will be loaded with 
fruit, while the other will have a light crop. The trees bloom in the early 
part of May, and when covered with their small white blossoms and 
prominent yellow anthers present a novel and interesting sight. If one 
eighth of the fruit sets a big crop will be harvested. The blooming 
period is the most critical one, and although there is no danger from 
frost, a high wind or wet weather will very seriously affect the setting 
of the fruit. 

Where conditions have been found to be favorable to olive-growing 
in California, crops are harvested every season. A failure of the crop 
is the exception. The harvesting commences in the warmer sections of 
the State about the middle of September. The green olives are picked 
at this time, the largest fruit being selected, and the most heavily laden 
trees are thinned out, as this hastens the maturing of the fruit. An 
overloaded tree will take fully a month longer to ripen its fruit than one 
which has only an average crop. Great care should be exercised in gath- 
ering olives for pickling purposes, for bruised olives will invariably go 
to pieces while being processed. The fruit should always be picked in 
baskets or buckets lined with cloth or burlap. Olives for pickling pur- 
poses can not be harvested for less than $20 per ton. 

No fixed rule can be laid down for picking the olive, but one point 
above all others should be borne in mind, and that is not to penetrate 
the flesh too deeply with lye. Another great objection to our pickled 
green olives has been the lack of uniformity in color, and when compared 
with the imported goods, dealers are justified in making this criticism. 
It has been intimated that the imported olives are colored chemically, 
but this, in the opinion of the writer, is not the case. The evenness of 
color is due to the use of limewater. This is easily made by dissolving 
about three ounces of lime to the gallon of water. After standing for 



THE OLIVE IN CALIFORNIA. 77 

about twenty-four hours the water is ready for use. In taking the 
limewater out of the receptacle it should be either siphoned or drawn 
off, so as not to disturb the lime which has settled to the bottom of the 
vessel. To each gallon of limewater add three ounces of lye, allowing 
the olives to remain in this solution until penetrated about a sixteenth 
of an inch. No further treatment with lye should be given. After 
being washed with clear water for a number of days, until all vestiges 
of the lye have disappeared, they should be immersed in a twelve-ounce 
brine by the saltometer, which strength should be gradually increased 
to twenty-four per cent. The olives are now ready to be barreled up 
and rolled away, and except for an occasional opening of the bung, 
to allow the gases which have formed to escape, and for adding new 
brine, if any should have evaporated, they will require no further 
attention. After six months of this treatment much of the bitter prin- 
ciple will be absorbed and the olives are then ready for market. Before 
marketing, the olives should be placed in a thirty per cent brine and the 
water used should be either distilled or boiled. Many of the large 
pickling concerns of the State do not bottle their goods until a year, or 
even two years, after they have been processed. This then, briefly, is 
the process for pickling green olives. 

The method of pickling ripe olives is much the same, except that it 
is necessary to give them a second lye bath, the limewater being in this 
instance eliminated. The second processing is given more for the pur- 
pose of securing a uniform, dark luster in the olive than for any other 
reason, and as soon as the olives have reached this point the liquid 
should be drawn off. The after processing is much the same as for 
green olives. In picking ripe olives much care should be exercised to 
secure fruit which is of an even color. It is an utter impossibility, 
however, to have all the fruit alike. The processing will do much to 
secure this, and where it does not the olives must be hand-sorted. The 
keeping of ripe olives has been the problem above all others which the 
growers have had to face. The ripe olives being so much softer, diffi- 
culties not to be found in the green olive have presented themselves. 
Experiments in canning have been so successful that this will finally 
be the solution of this trouble, and canned ripe olives will, within a few 
years, be an article of trade just as much as canned peaches, pears, etc., 
are to-day. The ripe olive, wherever introduced, has found more favor 
among consumers than the hard, woody, green olive, and now that the 
difficulty of keeping it has been solved this branch of the industry will 
unquestionably make rapid advances. There is as much difference in 
the flavor of a ripe olive, as compared with the green, as there is between 
a luscious ripe peach and a green one. Not only this, but the ripe olive 
is a nutritious, delectable article of food, while the green olive simply 
serves as a relish. 

Olives for pickling purposes sell for from $60 to $80 per ton, the 
price being regulated largely by the variety and size of the fruit. 

Olives to be made into oil can be handled at much less expense than 
when they are required for pickles. "When being picked for oil-making 
the fruit is either stripped from the trees, or knocked off with poles 
having a piece of rubber hose at one end, to prevent the branches being 
injured. A canvas sheet is spread under the tree and after enough 
olives have been gathered they are dumped into boxes. No precaution 



78 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

need be taken to prevent the olive from being bruised. Frozen olives 
make equally as good • oil as those that are not frost-bitten, and the 
fruit can remain on the trees for a month or more before pressing and 
there will be no deterioration in the quality of the oil. Frozen olives 
have less water and consequently are more easily handled by the oil- 
makers. When the olives are received at the packing-house they are 
first run through a fanning mill, or an aspirator, to remove all dirt and 
leaves. Leaves, even if left in, do not seem to impair the quality of the 
oil. The olives are next crushed by heavy iron or stone rollers revolving 
in a shallow iron pan, built something on the plan of a large saucer. 
This crusher may be run by horsepower, but in all modern plants the 
machinery is operated by either a steam or a gasoline engine ; the former 
is preferable, as the steam can be used for cleaning the plant. In 
crushing, the pits as well as the pulp of the olive are reduced. It has 
been found impracticable to do otherwise, and the statement that has 
been made that an inferior article is produced when the pits are 
crushed is a fallacy, just as much so as that the virgin oil comes from 
the first pressing. This is good trade talk, but is never carried out in 
actual practice. The first pressing is usually light and the resultant 
product is largely water. Before making the second pressing the 
pomace is again crushed and then placed in a larger press, which exerts 
a prassure of about two hundred tons to the square inch. This is 
followed in some instances by another crushing and pressing. This 
last pressing is largely a matter of judgment on the part of the man in 
charge of the plant. The oil and water from the presses are run into 
settling tanks. Here the oil remains for from twenty-four to thirty-six 
hours, when it is skimmed off into storage tanks, where it remains until 
ready for use. These tanks are built of galvanized iron and hold from 
five hundred to one thousand gallons each. After the oil stands in the 
tanks for six months it is ready for bottling. If the grower can afford 
to allow it to stand undisturbed for a year it is better. The oil goes 
through a sort of fermentation during this time and all impurities settle 
to the bottom. Before marketing the oil is filtered through several 
thicknesses of filtering paper to still further clarify it. 

One of the most important features to be observed in an olive mill is 
cleanliness. Olive oil is a great absorbent of bad odors and soon 
becomes rancid if care is not exercised in its manufacture. A ton of 
olives will produce from thirty-five to forty gallons of oil. When ready 
for market the oil is put up in half, one and five gallon tins ; also in 
half-pint, pint and quart bottles. It retails for $2.50 per gallon, and 
quart bottles are sold for from 85 cents to $1, the price being largely 
regulated by the size of the bottle used. 

California oil-makers take great pride in the purity of their goods 
and the oil can be relied upon as strictly pure. Oil olives sell for from 
$30 to $40 per ton. This is not a very remunerative price, to be sure, 
but olives used for this purpose are those which are small or defective 
and can not be pickled, so that making them into oil helps to clean up 
the crop. The great obstacle in the path of finding a ready market 
for pure oil has been the competition of the adulterated oils either 
imported from Europe, or prepared by jobbers who make it a business 
to mix the pure article with cotton-seed, peanut, and other vegetable 
oils. If our national fruit laws can be so enforced as to compel those 



CALIFORNIA WINES. 79 

engaged in this nefarious practice to label their bottles, showing the 
true content, it will do much toward building up a business in Cali- 
fornia. If properly advertised, olive oil for medicinal purposes alone 
would be in great demand, for it will do more good to poor, suffering 
humanity than all the nostrums so universally used and so vigorously 
pushed to the front. Advertising and putting up a thoroughly good 
and reliable article will do more to build up the business and develop 
it than any other one thing that can be followed. 

California fruit-growers are persevering; they have overcome difficul- 
ties in other branches of the industry. Have we not every good reason 
to believe that they will be equally successful in the development of the 
olive business ? We have not only our own market open to us, but there 
are also other countries where the charmed name California will cause 
the gates to be opened wide to admit this great health food from our 
sunny clime. 



CALIFORNIA WINES. 



By PERCY T. MORGAN, 
President California Wine Association. 



The wines of California have attained a world-wide distribution. 
They are exported to many European countries, to Central and South 
America, India, China, and Japan ; to the Hawaiian Islands, the Philip- 
pines, and they may even be found along the Nile. 

The first grapes from which wine was made in California were 
grown by the Spanish padres, who reached the Pacific coast from 
Mexico in 1769 and soon dotted what is now the State of California 
with their missions. Around these missions, to supply the wine which 
from time immemorial they and their predecessors had considered 
the United States, and largely replaced the imported product. 

In 1849 the lure of gold attracted many thousands of people of all 
nationalities to the new possessions of the United States on the western 
slope of the continent. 

It was not long before the adaptability of the soil and climate for the 
raising of grapes for the making of wine came to be recognized, and 
about the year 1854 vineyards were planted for producing wine on a 
commercial scale. In the next decade the proprietorship of vineyards 
became a very popular enterprise. 

The marketing of the product of these vineyards was at first a matter 
of some difficulty, for the reason that California, at that time, was with- 
out railroad connections with the more heavily populated Eastern 
States, which were largely supplied from Europe. With the advent 
of the railroad, however, the California wine business soon assumed 
importance and gradually found favor with the wine consumers of 
the United States, and largely replaced the imported product. 

By 1880 the consumption and export of California wines had grown 
to about five million gallons; in 1890 to about twenty million gallons; 



80 



CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



in 1900 to about thirty millions; and at this time the average annual 
production of wines in California exceeds forty million gallons. 

The region around the Bay of San Francisco, consisting of the coun- 
ties of Sonoma, Napa, Contra Costa, Alameda, Santa Clara, and Santa 
Cruz, is admirably adapted to the growing of wines similar to those 
of the Bordeaux and Burgundy types of France ; the Rhine and Moselle 
types of Germany, and the red and white wines of Italy. 

In the interior valleys of the San Joaquin and Sacramento, and in the 
region around Los Angeles, most excellent wines of port, sherry and 




FERMENTING TANKS. 



other sweet wine types like those of Spain and Portugal are success- 
fully produced. 

The maturing and handling of California wines necessitates the 
employment of very large capital and it is estimated that the vineyard 
interests of California, with their collateral industries, represent an 
investment of over one hundred million dollars. 

The area in California planted to vineyards is in the neighborhood 
of 270,000 acres, and the establishments for the care of wine are among 
the most extensive and complete in the world. 

The Winehaven cellars of the California Wine Association, which 
concern has ten million dollars invested in the California wine industry, 
are located on the bay of San Francisco, about an hour's steamer ride 
from the city. The buildings are of steel and concrete construction 
and are designed for a storage capacity of ten million gallons of wine. 





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Hlil'ii'iMr'Wi, -ft 

I I'll'' ]' -6 .1 » 




82 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

All the transcontinental railways connect with this plant and the deepest 
ocean going vessels can load at contiguous docks. 

About fifty winery plants, scattered through the wine-producing 
section of California, are operated under .the direction of the California 
Wine Association, and the magnitude of its operations can be judged 
from the fact that in the great vintage of 1902, over 225,000 tons of 
grapes, producing upwards of thirty million gallons of wine and 
brandy, were crushed in these plants. 

The influence of the California Wine Association, since it was incor- 
porated some fifteen years ago, in the upbuilding of the California wine 
industry has been very marked and its financial strength and enterprise 
have greatly encouraged the distribution of the wines of California. 

The Calwa brand of bottled wines, matured in the cellars of the 
California Wine Association, have attained a very high standard of 
quality and a reputation which is fast being recognized all over the 
country. 

Many other large concerns are engaged in the California wine trade, 
among which may be mentioned the Italian-Swiss Colony with its Tipo 
Chianti brand of wines; Lachman & Jacobi; C. Schilling & Company; 
Wetmore-Bowen Company, which deals exclusively in the Cresta Blanca 
brand of bottled wines ; Gundlach-Bundschu Wine Company ; the Cali- 
fornia Winery, and several others which have in more recent years 
entered the California wine trade. 

In the wine districts other wineries, numbering several hundred, are 
operated, the majority being of small capacity for crushing the yield 
of individual wineries, but some also of considerable magnitude make 
wines for sale to the numerous concerns engaged in the distribution of 
California wines. 

With the magnificent climate so splendidly adapted to the growing 
of wines, and the vast amount of capital engaged in the business, 
together with the skill which has been attained in more than fifty years 
of experience in wine-making in California, this industry is destined 
to become not only one of the largest in the United States, but also, 
in its exports, a formidable competitor with European wine-growing 
countries. 



SPECIALIZING IN THE DAIRY BUSINESS. 



By Wm. H. SAYLOR. 

Secretary of the State Dairy Bureau. 



Two of our noted captains of industry have lately attracted attention 
through utterances that are remarkable for their divergence. Mr. James 
J. Hill, the railroad master, speaking to those in quest of business suc- 
cess, tells us "not to put all of our eggs in one basket." Mr. Andrew 
Carnegie takes the opposite view, but admonishes us to watch that par- 
ticular basket. In the way of business philosophy there may be good 
sense in both views. Advice in anything is valuable only as it fits the 



SPECIALIZING IN THE DAIRY BUSINESS. 83 

person to whom it is given ; but without questioning the wisdom of Mr. 
Hill, the progress that has been made in the world comes very near 
substantiating the logic of Mr. Carnegie— that the greatest measure of 
success comes from specialization. 

In agriculture no less than in other industries the tendency is to 
specialize, and the agricultural enterprises of California stand out con- 
spicuously in this respect. Here we have the farmer specialist — the 
cereal farmer, who devotes his energies and resources to growing grain ; 
the cattle raiser, who knows nothing but cattle; the sheep raiser, who 
pins his faith to sheep alone. But it is in its more intensified farming 
that California is developing its most successful specialists. We have 
the. orange grower in the south, who understands his business with a 
thoroughness and intelligence that sets him in the very first class of 
agriculturists. We have the vineyardist, the celery grower, the aspar- 
agus grower, the bean farmer, the nut raiser, the hop farmer, the 
exclusive hay farmer, and so on down the line. The farmer settler, it 
seems, comes to California, looks about, finds a locality that appeals to 
him, investigates what it will produce to best advantage, and then goes 
in to work out success along that line. 

In dairying California is the only State that can claim distinction for 
having a class of farmers who can be strictly termed dairymen. In 
other states dairy products come from cows that are a part of a system 
of mixed farming. The farmer of the past tried to produce about 
everything that was required to sustain his family. If there was a sur- 
plus it was sold. This is the class of farmer in our Eastern States who 
milks a few cows, generally of but ordinary adaptability to dairy use- 
fulness, makes a product of indifferent quality or helps to sustain a 
public creamery or cheese factory. In the aggregate this class of farmer 
is so large that it meets the demand for the variety of what it produces. 
But with this class there is not the highest degree of excellence. In the 
dairy line on these general farms you find cows of indiscriminate breed- 
ing and not best adapted for dairy purposes. The equipment is crude, 
the method of feeding is not scientific or economical, and sanitary 
standards are low. 

But in California, dairying is on a different basis. The cow-keeper 
is a dairyman, a specialist, and all his interests and resources are in his 
herd. As success comes to him he expands his operations ; but he seldom 
branches out into other lines of farming. What he wants is more land 
and more and better cows. 

California is a land of big things in dairying, as it is in so many other 
lines of enterprise. One estate, divided up into a number of dairy 
farms, owns nearly two thousand cows. There are several dairies doing 
business with a thousand cows under a single ownership, and there are 
over eight hundred dairy farmers who have herds numbering from one 
hundred to one thousand cows, and approximately three thousand 
whose herds number thirty-five or more cows. Eighty per cent of the 
total dairy product of the State comes from this class of dairymen, 
while in the older dairy states eighty per cent is produced from herds 
of less than thirty cows, or in other words, from those who engage in 
mixed farming. 



84 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

While California has been evolving a class of farmers who make a 
specially of the dairy business, she is also evolving the most perfect 
dairy appliances, conveniences and methods. With unexcelled feed in 
the form of alfalfa, the State is developing the most efficient herds in 
the world. With specialization in dairying has come the Holstein- 
Friesian and the Jersey cow. Like the benefactor who makes two blades 
of grass grow where one grew before, the special bred type of dairy cow 
is giving two or three pounds of butter to one from the inferior animal 
that is the result of mixed farming. 

Under this system of specialization and our incomparable forage, 
let us take a glimpse at the development that has taken place in the 
dairy industry of California. For ten years an effort has been made 
annually by the State Dairy Bureau to ascertain the output of dairy 
products. During this time there has been a growth in butter produc- 
tion (for which branch of the industry the State seems best adapted) 
from 23,691,028 pounds in 1898 to 48,469,585 pounds in 1908. When 
we study this growth in detail we are more impressed with the develop- 
ment that has taken place than casually appears. We find that it has 
been chiefly confined to irrigated sections, and especially to counties in 
the valleys of the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers. Here with an 
abundance of alfalfa, which by irrigation may be kept green throughout 
the year and fed green for at least nine months, the dairy business 
has boomed. Taking Fresno, Kern, Kings, Merced, Sacramento, San 
Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare and Yolo counties, we find that as recently 
as 1900 their combined output of butter was only 4,131,882 pounds. 
The output has grown in eight years as follows : 

Year. Pounds. 

1900 4,131,882 

1902 5,819,451 

1904 10,901,490 

1906 16,310,445 

1908. 19,759,370 

A fair annual yield of alfalfa hay is six tons to the acre. Leaving 
out also the indigestible parts, we find that an average acre will yield 
1,320 pounds of digestible protein, 4,752 pounds of digestible carbo- 
hydrates, and a small amount of digestible fat. It is these digestible 
nutrients that count in milk production. 

Feeding authorities tell us that it requires on the average 1.87 pounds 
of digestible protein and 12.35 pounds of digestible carbohydrates to 
produce one pound of butter fat. Hence we are able to deduce that the 
1,320 pounds of digestible protein produced from an acre have a poten- 
tial butter-fat value of 720 pounds a year. At thirty cents a pound 
this means $216.00. As the same alfalfa furnishes in addition almost 
enough digestible carbohydrates, this need not be calculated separately. 
But the cow can not transform these nutrients into milk without some 
loss. There must be some waste in the transformation. Her body must 
be nourished. The extent of the loss must depend upon the transform- 
ing efficiency of the cow. Herein lies the field for the special type of 
daily cow and for the special, well-trained, and enterprising dairyman. 

Cows are kept for the purpose of transforming vegetation, inedible 
by human beings, into an edible article of human food. The protein. 



POULTRY-RAISING IN CALIFORNIA. 



85 



carbohydrates, and fat in alfalfa, grass, hay, and all forms of fodders 
are chemically the same as those in milk, but they must be trans- 
formed to make them of food value. This is the dairyman's business. 
He must transform the nutrients in his fodder into milk nutrients with 
a minimum of loss. He benefits by his special knowledge and experi- 
ence. He must have cows of the highest efficiency in transforming 
fodders, and all tbe best appliances, machinery and methods that tend 
in this direction. This is the class that is producing the dairy products 
of California — dairymen in the full sense of the word. 



POULTRY-RAISING IN CALIFORNIA. 



By L. C. BYCE, 
President of the Petaluma Incubator Company. 



In the early days of California following the gold excitement, a 
family which constituted part of an emigrant train that crossed the 
plains, brought with them, in addition to horses and cattle, a few hens. 
The latter, while en route, were allowed their freedom in the evening, 
after the party had struck camp, and later on as the hens settled upon 
the wheels of the wagons or other suitable place to roost for the night, 
were carefully tucked away in their coops, only to have this repeated 
over and over again. Arriving at a California mining-camp every 
evidence of civilization, including the chickens, was welcomed. A good 
flock of hens at the time above referred to would have been equal to a 
gold mine, for the family owning these hens found ready sale for every 
egg at almost fabulous prices, as high as $6 in gold dust being paid for 
a single egg. 

The luring sight of gold and its quest soon caused the chickens to be 
forgotten, and but few people interested themselves, and then only in 
a small way, until in the seventies. Previously no thought seemed to 
be given to the poultry business as a commercial proposition or as a 
means of livelihood, although late years have fully demonstrated that 
golden opportunities w T ere lost. The writer, who was also engaged in 
perfecting a system of artificial incubation, imported from many of the 
Eastern poultry yards large quantities of fowls, disposing of them in 
small numbers, which became widely scattered, and by encouraging 
those of limited or small means there has grown up a business of such 
magnitude as to be almost beyond the conception of the person hearing 
of it for the first time. 

Immediately surrounding Petaluma there are over one million laying 
hens, making it the greatest poultry section of the world. 

It requires a more vivid imagination than that of the writer to ade- 
quately set before the eyes of those who have never visited this section 
of the country a pen picture of the poultry business as it is carried on 
here ; neither can it be properly pictured by the camera in one general 
view on account of the hills between which nestle so many beautiful 
valleys admirably adapted for the purpose. Standing upon one hilltop 



86 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

from which, looking across a very narrow valley dotted with white 
poultry houses surrounded by White Leghorns in such numbers that even 
at a short distance certain spots are almost as white as though covered 
with snow, can be heard arising the combined cackling of 125,000 hens, 
the mighty chorus of which is pleasingly suggestive that the busy hen is 
adding to the accumulating riches of her owner. 

Shipments last year from Petaluma amounted in round numbers to 
4,500,000 dozen of eggs and 60,000 dozen poultry. These figures do not 
include the eggs for table consumption nor for use in incubators. Add 
to the above 2,000,000 eggs used in the large hatching establishments, 
which ship one day old chicks, and about 5,000,000 used by various 
poultrymen in raising birds to replenish their flocks, and one can very 
readily estimate what is being done in a single community, the output 
of which brings $5,000 per day to those engaged in the business. 




POULTRY FARM OF THREE THOUSAND HENS. 

The total receipts of eggs in San Francisco last year is given as 
14,138,424 dozens. In comparing figures it will be noticed that the 
Petaluma shipments amounted to one third of the quantity, and when 
we add the products of Santa Rosa, Healdsburg, Cloverdale, and other 
towns in the county, it is found Sonoma County furnishes just about 
one half of all eggs shipped into the San Francisco market. 

Recent organization among the producers and a system adopted for 
grading eggs has given encouragement to more careful methods. Prices 
of eggs at the time of writing are for first grade 56 cents per dozen, and 
40 cents for seconds, with a prospect of going still higher. 

Several of the coast counties south of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and 
one or two other counties in the southern part of the State, and the 
great Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys are fast coming into promi- 
nence as poultry-raising sections, and even a number of places away up 
in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. 

The valleys of California that are well sheltered by the mountains 
and have an abundance of good water are admirably adapted to poultry- 
raising, and on account of conditions the smaller valleys are the best 
adapted. The growth has been enormous during the past decade. 
Hundreds of families of limited means have acquired small places and 
engaged in the poultry business, and are not only realizing a fine liveli- 
hood, but many have bank accounts of no mean proportions. 

The prospects for success are more promising than in the East or 
northern latitudes, for the climate precludes the necessity of extremely 



POULTRY-RAISING IN CALIFORNIA. 87 

warm housing ; hens run out every day in the year, hence have free and 
unlimited exercise; snow in the valleys is a phenomenon; the rains of 
our winters are beneficial to the fowls rather than a detriment to them, 
for it is then that vegetation is at its height. 

Prices obtained for eggs and poultry average high, and although 
many are engaged in the business, yet there is room for hundreds more, 
for the home production meets but little more than half the demand, 
and at the rapid rate at which California's population is being increased 
the demand for poultry and eggs is also increasing. Several hundred 
carloads of eggs and live poultry are sent from points in the Western 
States to the Pacific coast markets during a year, usually to San Fran- 
cisco and Los Angeles, to make up for the large deficiency in home pro- 
duction. 

One peculiar and withal very desirable feature of poultry-raising in 




WHITE LEGHORNS. 

California is that large numbers of fowls may be allowed to roam 
together in perfect health without fear of disease being contracted. 
Such conditions in any other part of the world invariably mean disaster 
to the flock, and this is another feature which greatly adds to the profit 
side of the poultryman's account. Some of the valleys present the 
appearance of one vast poultry farm, and upon ascending a prominence 
overlooking the same a scene is presented that would make an Eastern 
friend realize at a glance what superior advantages are possessed by the 
California poultrymen. A soil unequaled, a climate unapproached ; the 
best and purest water in numerous places running down from the 
mountain sides; a sunshine warm and invigorating, but never too hot; 
natural green feed the year around, and no cold or rigorous winters, 
necessitating specially constructed and oftentimes artificially warmed 
poultry houses — is it any wonder that California is fast becoming known 
as the poultryman's paradise? 

One will naturally ask, Is it possible for any person to make a failure 
under all the favorable conditions ? To which we answer in all sincerity 
and truthfulness, Yes, there are failures, by those who have sought this 
line of business on the ground that "any one can raise chickens," and 
having failed in everything else, tries the one business of all which any 
one can conduct, according to his statement, and fails, because instead 
of managing it right, mismanages as he has done in other lines, while 
his neighbor with the same class of fowls and on similar land and in the 



88 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

same glorious climate, and using the feed that the market affords, con- 
tinues to swell his bank account. 

While the majority of those engaged in the poultry business keep 
flocks of hens for laying purposes (and the White Leghorn variety 
is used almost, exclusively), there are others near the cities devoting 
their energies to duck raising, while others in the interior where there is 
plenty of range, raise turkeys in immense numbers, so that boys or men 
herd them during the day, much as a shepherd does his sheep. The 
writer has seen a flock of twelve hundred turkeys in charge of a boy 
with saddle pony and dog, and has been told of many large flocks in the 
Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys. A very extensive duck-raiser 
near San Francisco informed me that during eleven months of last year 



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SMALL POULTRY FARMS WITHIN CITY LIMITS OF PETALUMA. 



he hatched and got ready for market 49,800 ducks and 1,485 chickens, 
and sold off the ducks at eight and ten weeks of age, 10,000 at $1 each to 
the Chinese population, while the others brought from $6 per dozen to 
occasionally $12. 

Here are also figures given by some who are conducting the poultry 
business in only a limited way. One man reports the following : 

"I send you the result of a single year's work with 296 hens. Eggs 
and broilers sold, $1,110.12; gross cost of feed, $195.35; net, $918.76. 
Have had the hens divided into two yards, occupying about five acres 
of ground. ' ' 

Another man reports as follows: "From a flock of 500 hens I have 
sold 3,723 dozen eggs, averaging 31^2 cents per dozen, $1,170.98 ; 145 
broilers at 42y 2 cents each, $61.35 ; 200 pullets at 50 cents each, $100.00; 
total, $1,332.33", from which deduct for feed of various kinds, $400.00, 
leaving a net profit of $932.33." 

Hundreds of such instances as these could be given, but it is always 
safe to estimate on what the average person is making. It is placing 
a very low estimate to say that any person can count on a net profit of 
$1 per hen per annum ; in fact, the writer does not know of any one who 
is not doing better than this. 



90 



CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



From an old copy of a San Francisco paper, the ' ' Pacific Rural Press, ' ' 
the following is taken : ' ' That truth is stranger than fiction is deeply 
impressed on the judicious observer who visits Petaluma for the first 
time and takes note of the wonderful magnitude of the poultry industry. 
Twenty-six years ago Mr. L. C. Byce, now President of the Petaluma 
Incubator Company, settled in the quiet country village up the creek 
and determined to make it the greatest poultry center in the world. 
Working alone at the carpenter's bench, he began the manufacture of 
incubators, which have now become so justly famous. At that time there 
were few fowls in the State, but Mr. Byce's dream has been realized. 




SCENE ON A CALIFORNIA POULTRY RANCH OF 8,000 HENS. 



The entire country surrounding Petaluma teems with chickens, nearly 
all White Leghorns. The ' ranches ' are small, usually consisting of five 
and ten-acre tracts. The number of fowls owned by each farmer 
ranges from 500 to 8,000. Climate, soil, locality, price of feed and 
access to market all contribute to the success of the industry, and hun- 
dreds of men are establishing themselves on little ranches, with the 
assurance that financial independence waits on intelligent management, 
industry, cleanliness, and perseverance." 

One might infer from the above that a man can keep 8,000 fowls on 
a piece of land not to exceed ten acres ; such, however, is not the case. 
All of the poultrymen in the vicinity of Petaluma who keep from 5,000 
to 8,000 fowls have from 200 to 300 acres of land, on which the fowls 
roam at large, the colony system being employed; but there are those 
employing the yard system, who keep as large a number of fowls on 



Poultry-raising in California. 



91 



twenty to twenty-five acres of ground. Each plan has its advocates, 
and there are many who are making good money on both plans. It is 
not so much the system as the ability of the man to handle the business. 
Much has been said and written on the poultry industry of California, 
of the wonderful adaptability of soil and climate to the successful and 
profitable conduct of the business, and although hundreds of people 
have been attracted to the State to engage in poultry-raising, yet the 
output comes so far short of meeting the demand that there is room for 




LOAD OF 3,000 PETALUMA CHICKENS. 



hundreds more. San Francisco is, of course, the leading market, but 
in many ether sections the local market, owing to existing conditions, is 
as good as that of San Francisco. The large number of vessels engaged 
in the transpacific trade leaving the port of San Francisco ; the demands 
of the various and almost innumerable mining and lumber camps; 
the endless summer and vacation houses, and the monster hotels for 
tourists, all require enormous quantities of poultry and eggs, and Cali- 
fornia poultry-raising must either produce the same or consumers will 
still have to look to the Western States to furnish them. It does not 
require much thought or investigation of the subject to determine how 
much more preferable is the fresh California product, and that should 
point the moral that there is room for more producers. 



92 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES/ ETC. 

THE HONEY INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA. 



By GEORGE L. EMERSON. 



Bee-keeping and honey-making in California differ materially from 
the same vocation elsewhere. The man who does not have two hundred 
stands or more is scarcely recognized as an apiarist; and when they 
speak of honey it is nearly always in tons rather than in pounds. 
There are a good many men in the southern part of the State who care 
for five hundred colonies or over ; that is, they do the expert work and 
their assistants take care of that part which can be left to those of less 
experience. 

It is counted that a good apiarist can do all the work for two 
hundred stands of bees; while the same man, with the help of a green 
hand for two months, will manage about three hundred stands. Mr. 
Mendelson of Ventura handles fifteen hundred and sixty colonies with 
hired help, and makes both comb and extracted honey. Mr. Mercer, 
also of Ventura, cares for twelve hundred colonies, with the assistance 
of two men during the busy season. But few men could hope to attain 
the knowledge necessary to care for so many bees. 

Southern California is literally the home of the bee. They can be 
found in the trees, rocks, houses, and even have been known to build 
in the branches of the orange tree exposed to the open air and there 
store in the summer under those conditions quite a number of pounds 
of surplus. Houses are favorite haunts, especially schoolhouses and 
churches. They will go into the roof through the shingles, or around 
the windows they may find access to space between the studding; or 
perhaps they may find a way to the inside of the cornice, and even the 
chimneys — these they often choke up with honey until smoke refuses 
to take its wonted passage. 

During a good season all these wild bees swarm repeatedly, and the 
consequence is that they are found in all likely and unlikely places. 
It is a common thing for a man who knows how and is willing to spend 
time to shake such swarms into a box to gather anywhere from twenty- 
five to one hundred swarms in a single summer. These bees are gener- 
ally hived in anything that comes handy. I have bought them myself 
in anything from a , bureau-drawer to a sugar-barrel, the prices 
ranging from 50 cents to $3 in hives. Bees in hives suitably located 
sell at from $3 to $5 per stand, and if the man is an experienced bee- 
keeper it pays to buy them in this condition ; but if he is short of 
money he can gradually work into the business by making his own hives, 
buying cheap bees, and transferring them, catching stray swarms and 
taking them out of buildings, etc. 

The writer and his brother own one thousand stands of bees, located 
in eight modern apiaries. Two years ago we produced sixty-five tons 
of extracted honey ; last year we got forty-five tons. Taking the two 
years together I do not think that they could be considered better than 
average years. This would make an average of fifty-five tons per year. 



THE HONEY [NDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA. 93 

The honey sold at from 4% to 6% cents per pound, according to grade 
and market, but for convenience let us say the price was 5 cents, or 
$100 per ton, which is $5,500 per year. Two thousand dollars will 
cover the total expense. This leaves $3,500 net, and five months in 
which there is practically nothing to do except visit the apiaries once 
a month and see if everything is all right. We have not spent more 
than an hour's time a month at each apiary during the past winter, 
or from the first of October to the first of March, and our bees wintered 
splendidly. 

There are some men who produce comb honey exclusively. Others 
produce both comb and extracted honey, while the majority prefer to 
handle only the extracted. I believe this to be a question for each man 
to settle for himself, as there are many different things to consider; 
but one thing is certain — it does not pay for any one to produce poor 
comb honey. The cost of production is equal to, if not more than, if 
it had been made when there was a good flow of honey, while the selling 
price may be reduced to one half what a fine white comb of full weight 
will bring. In the extracted it does not vary so much. The extremes 
are not more than two cents per pound on the same market. 

Some of the readers of this article may want to know about the flora 
to which we look to furnish feed for our bees. There are so many 
varieties of honey-producing plants and trees that space will not permit 
of a description or even the mention of all of them. Some of the most 
prominent are the black, white, and purple sages. [We claim that the 
black, or button, sage, as it is sometimes called, makes the finest honey 
in the world.] Wild buckwheat, wild and cultivated alfalfa, also 
some of the immense bean-fields, furnish many tons of white honey for 
our bees. There are so many varieties of honey-producing shrubs that 
the ordinary bee man simply says of a certain one when he sees it, "Yes, 
that is all right, my bees work it," and never thinks of trying to find out 
the names of them all. 

Among the trees the orange and eucalyptus are most valued, but 
the greater portion of plants and trees in this part of the country have 
some kind of a flower and the bees will work them according to their 
value compared to other flowers cut at the same time. The black sage 
not only produces the best honey, but under favorable circumstances 
the flow is so heavy that bees will not touch anything else while it is 
at Its height. I have seen an apiary of three hundred stands, in ten- 
frame Langstroth hives, fill every available space in four days and cap 
it solid. This shows how heavy-bodied it was when gathered, for 
ordinary honey has to stand in the combs a number of days before it 
is ripe enough to cap. This same honey was so white that you could 
not, while standing off a few feet, tell the difference between a tumbler 
full of it and another of water. We have kept it for four years in a 
Mason jar without sealing, and it did not granulate. When California 
has a really large crop, that is the kind of honey that perhaps one half 
of it will be. while the rest will either come from other flowers or be 
mixed with them enough to make a decided change in color and flavor. 

We roughly estimate that California can produce five hundred cars 
of fifteen tens each in a good season. This was done years ago, while 
we now have more bee-keepers and better ones, more bees and better 



94 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

facilities for handling them; and yet I prophesy that in a few years 
we will look back and see how small we were at this time ; for there are 
unlimited acres of mountainous territory in this great State covered 
with a jungle of tangled shrubbery (that can only be penetrated by 
the smaller animals) that breaks out into a profusion of bloom that is 
enough to gladden the heart of any lover of nature in its wild and 
unfrequented state ; while it will certainly not only put the bees within 
its reach, but the bee-keepers themselves, to swarming. 

My friends, the Eastern bee-keepers, if you are tired of chaff hives, 
or cellar wintering, or shoveling snow to get a path to the road — of 
working six months to prepare a living chance for the winter — follow 
the path and advice of thousands of others and come to a climate 
where bees have been known to swarm every month in the year ; where 
the roses bloom in the winter and the children run barefooted all the 
year round. There is plenty of room for more, even if we are the 
largest producers of honey in the Union, and the chances are better 
now than ever before, for we have the California National Honey- 
Producers' Association to buy our supplies at the cheapest, sell our 
honey on a favorable market, and protect our interests at large. 



CATTLE-RAISING IN CALIFORNIA. 



By PETER J. SHIELDS. 



The breeding of live stock in California has many features peculiar 
to itself, and may well be said to be in a formative condition. The 
breeding and ranging of cattle of both the beef and the dairy varieties 
are in a condition of adjustment, and the next ten years will witness 
many material changes in the manner in which they are conducted. 

California is probably the only one of the Middle Western and Pacific 
Coast States which does not produce all its dairy and beef cattle within 
its borders, and at the same time ship cattle for slaughter. This con- 
dition is the more remarkable when taken in connection with another 
fact, which is that California is the best fitted by reason of soil, climate 
and food products to produce cattle economically of any State in the 
Union. The reasons for this underproduction are many. California 
is not an old State, nor is its population dense. There is almost an 
entire absence of the small breeder and of small herds bred and fed 
upon the farm. The chief reason, however, is that California's energies 
have been exercised in other directions, and she has subordinated her 
beef-growing and dairy industries to others which she has carried to 
a high development. Her first great industry was mining, and she pro- 
duced more gold than any other State in the Union, or other subdivision 
of the earth. Wheat-growing followed, in which she took high rank, 
especially excelling in the use of agricultural machinery. Horticulture 
succeeded, and in this particular she is without a' parallel. Cattle- 
breeding has waited on these industries ; but in the progress of events 



CATTLE-RAISING IN CALIFORNIA. 95 

the day of the cow has come, and the next few years will witness a 
development and perfection in the breeding of high-class cattle which 
will compare with her present horticultural preeminence. 

At the time of the acquisition of the territory of California by the 
United States in 1848 large herds of cattle of the Mexican type roamed 
over her foothills and valleys in almost a wild state. They were 
slaughtered chiefly for their hides and tallow, which were purchased by 
traders plying vessels along the coast. Following the American occupa- 
tion these conditions did not rapidly change, and some features of them 
still remain. The cattle-breeding industry of California is still dis- 
tinguished by the large holdings of land, the vast herds and the great 
ranges. The ranges of such breeders as Miller & Lux and the Kern 
County Land Company easily exceed one million acres each, while 
ranges of nearly equal extent are owned and used by Cox & Clark, Vail 
& Gates, J. V. Vickers, The California Agricultural and Pastoral Com- 
pany, the Howard estate, and many others. California, however, is not 
exclusively a range State. A very large number of cattle are bred and 
fed on irrigated alfalfa ranges in the central and southern San Joaquin 
Valley. Many cattle, too, are grown on the alfalfa fields in the Sacra- 
mento Valley, where, on the moist rich lands along the rivers and on the 
irrigated tracts, alfalfa grows to perfection ; and wherever this incom- 
parable crop is grown animal life takes on its highest development. 

The number of cattle in the State is difficult to determine, the census 
returns from California being probably less reliable than those from 
other states where the holdings are smaller and the herds much more 
numerous. A study of the returns shows that the number of cattle is 
only slightly increasing under the range system. And it is not probable 
that it will increase. We must look for increase only as the result of the 
spread of irrigation, the growing of more alfalfa, the subdivision of 
large holdings, and the advent of the farmer breeder and feeder. In 
1860 California ranked sixth among the states as a cattle producer, 
reporting 1,180,142 head. In 1870, she fell to eleventh place, reporting 
less than two thirds as many cattle as ten years previously. She showed 
little increase in 1880, by which time she had fallen to the rank of 
twenty-first among the states. In 1890 she reached her highest mark, 
when she ranked thirteenth with 1,367,118 head. By the census of 1900 
she had fallen to seventeenth place, and the number of cattle had 
declined to 1,115,194 head. "While these enumerations are probably 
under the correct figures, they clearly show that California has been 
developing her other industries at the expense of cattle-breeding, and 
that it was chiefly from progress in other lines that she has obtained her 
high rank among the states as a producer of wealth. In the United 
States there are 17.64 head of cattle per square mile, while in Cali- 
fornia there are but 7.15 head, she ranking fortieth among the states 
and territories. 

To determine what percentage of the cattle used and consumed it; 
California are bred and grown in the State is difficult. The best advices 
at the writer's command lead to the conclusion that not more than forty- 
five per cent of the cattle slaughtered in California are home-bred and 
grown. 

There are slaughtered in San Francisco each month about 15,000 
cattle, at Los Angeles about 9,000, at Sacramento about 1,000, at Stock- 



96 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

ton and Fresno about 800 each, and at other places in the State such an 
additional number as brings the monthly average up to about 50,000 
head. To supply this demand there are annually brought into the State 
from the Republic of Mexico, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Oregon and 
Nevada about 350,000 head. Of this number about 150,000 come from 
Oregon and Nevada, about 150,000 from New Mexico and Arizona, and 
the remaining 50,000 from Texas and Mexico. 

The grade of the cattle slaughtered in California is not at present 
as high as that of those which supply the great cattle markets of the 
Middle Western States. They are very largely range cattle and occa- 
sionally show in addition to the ordinary range characteristics some 
slight traces of their Mexican ancestry. Considering their breeding, 
however, California cattle are unequaled, as the favorable climatic 
conditions under which they grow produce an excellence unapproached 
by animals no better bred. The use of pure-bred bulls upon the range 
is largely increasing, and range cattle are showing a marked improve- 
ment in size and quality. When they have been graded up to the 
breed standard of Eastern cattle, they will be of greatly superior 
individuality and merit, owing to the richness of the California grasses, 
and the climatic conditions being so favorable to growth and develop- 
ment. The cattle brought into California from Arizona, New Mexico, 
Texas and Mexico are most frequently Hereford grades and show more 
or less the characteristics of that breed. The Oregon and Nevada cattle 
have been generally Shorthorn grades of good type, but in recent years 
the cattle from these states show a strong infusion of Hereford blood. 
Of the home-grown cattle of California about two thirds are produced 
south of San Joaquin County and about one third north of that place. 
These cattle are chiefly of the Shorthorn type, being grades of that breed 
upon the native cattle. 

The first improvement of our cattle, however, was through the use of 
"American" cattle brought across the plains in pioneer days. These 
animals were undoubtedly mostly grades of some of the improved 
breeds. The cattle of the northern part of the State are of marked 
superiority over those farther south, owing to the much larger number 
of pure-bred sires having been used by the northern breeders. This 
larger use is attributed to the annual exhibitions of fine cattle at the 
State fairs at Sacramento, surrounding which city the superiority is 
most marked. 

In cattle classed in the census as "milch cows" California 
Dairy ranks somewhat better than as a producer of beef animals. 

Cattle. While she occupies the same rank, being seventeenth in 

each, she compares more favorably with the states ahead 
of her. The last census credits California with 307,245 milch cows, 
being about one fifth as many as New York and Iowa and one third as 
many as Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Dairy statistics of California 
will be given elsewhere ; it will be sufficient here to say that the quality 
of the dairy cattle of this State is not as high as that of other states 
which have specialized along dairy lines, and that until recent years the 
breeding of dairy cattle has experienced the neglect incident to our 
more general attention to other industries. As to breed, the native or 
common cow predominates among our dairy cattle, although a very 
large percentage of them give indications of more or less improved 



CATTLE-RAISING IN CALIFORNIA. 97 

blood, Shorthorn predominating. Jersey blood is very generally 
evidenced, with Holstein showing an increasing popularity. While 

the general average of California's beef and dairy cattle 
Pure-bred is not high, the contrary is true of the pure-bred cattle 
Cattle. within her borders. The great fortunes which our pioneer 

citizens accumulated in the mines, in railroad construc- 
tion, fruit- and wheat-growing, enabling them to indulge their taste for 
fine-bred animals, and early in our history and constantly since some of 
the choicest animals which money could buy have been purchased for 
California. Many famous herds have been collected, and from their 
increase, and as a consequence of their dismemberment and sale, many 
smaller herds are now scattered throughout the State, representing the 
best types of the various breeds. These herds have been well main- 
tained, others are constantly being established, and California may 
safely be said to be on the verge of a great cattle-breeding development. 

Shorthorns were first of all the varieties of pure-bred 
Shorthorns, cattle to be introduced into California, and have always 

remained favorites with our beef-breeders and dairymen. 
Among both our beef and dairy cattle the Shorthorn cross is most fre- 
quently encountered, and to it we are probably most indebted for what 
progress we have made in improving our cattle. The first known intro- 
duction of pure-bred Shorthorns into the State occurred in 1858, 
although well-bred animals had previously been brought in by immi- 
grant trains across the plains. After this, importations were steady and 
frequent, until now the blood of this royal breed is well distributed and 
in the hands of aggressive and intelligent breeders. At the present 
time twelve or fifteen large-sized breeding herds exist in the State, rep- 
resenting all of the most prominent families, domestic and imported, 
including a number of herds of high-class milking Shorthorns. In 
addition to these, many smaller herds exist, and still more herds of 
very high-grade females headed by choice pure-bred sires. A splendid 
field exists in California for the establishment of choice herds of this 
popular breed, where a ready sale for surplus animals at good prices is 
assured. 

Of recent years, the Hereford, now so popular as feeders 
Herefords. both in the corn-growing states and upon the western 

ranges, has been making many friends in California. Up 
to 1884 this breed was known only to our people through individual 
specimens, but during that year a large herd was brought to California 
from New Zealand, shown at the State fair at Sacramento, and sold 
throughout the State. Since that time these cattle have enjoyed an 
increasing popularity until within the last few years they have been 
taken up by many strong breeders and may now be considered as well 
established here. Six or eight large and very superior herds of the 
choicest Herefords are now owned in California and the breed is daily 
obtaining a wider popularity. A strong demand exists for cattle of 
this breed, and a much greater number could be bred here at a good 
profit. 

This highly meritorious breed is singularly fitted for a 
Devons. considerable use under the conditions which prevail in 

California, but is unaccountably neglected. The first 
Devons were brought here in 1860, and since that time have been bred 
and used by a number of active breeders. Some use is now made of 



98 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

Devon bulls, but few animals of the breed are available and our breeders 
have generally ceased to look for or use them. But one or two pure- 
bred herds are owned in the State, and they are little advertised and 
never exhibited. An active breeder of this useful breed, having good 
animals, could undoubtedly find a ready sale for his surplus at good 
prices. 

It will occur to the breeders and feeders of the great 
Polled Middle Western cattle belt as strange that these great 

Angus breeds are little used in California, but such is the fact. 

Galloways. For some reason our range breeders have not regarded 

them as successful when ranged with large herds of the 
type of cattle used in California under the conditions which prevail 










CATTLE IN CLOVER. 

here. In small herds, as feeders and in the hands of the farmer- 
breeder, they have been most successful, but as such herds have not been 
numerously maintained heretofore in California, these animals have not 
been sought for. Under the changed conditions now dawning in the 
State they will be in demand and the time is now ripe for the establish- 
ment here of good herds of these famous breeds. 

This great breed has been strangely neglected in Cali- 
Guernseys. fornia. In 1881 the first herd was brought to this State 

direct from the island, but it was not long maintained. 
Its dispersal, however, carried its blood into many of the practical 
dairies of the State, and did its part to enrich them. Individual 
animals have from time to time been brought here, and at the present 
time a number of choice animals of this breed are being used and bred 
from in the larger dairy region about Fresno. They are meeting with 
such favor that the demand for Guernseys is now great, and a breeder 



CATTLE-RAISING IN CALIFORNIA. 



99 



of these popular animals could find no better place to conduct his busi- 
ness than in California. 

This great breed has long been popular in California and 
Jerseys. is the most generally distributed of any of the improved 

dairy breeds. Fortunately for the Jerseys, they early 
attracted the attention of a number of California's wealthy men, who 
spared neither money nor pains to secure the best possible representa- 
tives of the breed. The first Jerseys in any number were brought here 
in 1872, and for some years following they were brought very numer- 
ously into the State, shown at the annual fairs, and distributed gener- 
ally over the State. Most of our dairy herds show some trace of Jersey 
blood, while we have a large number composed of very high-grade 




HOLSTEIN CALVES. 



animals headed by registered Jersey sires. In California the Jersey 
has prospered exceptionally, the mild climate and rich grasses of the 
State approximating closely to those of the island home of the breed. 
The breed is in good hands in California, and it is destined to reach 
a high development here. Two Jersey societies are organized, and the 
breed is represented by a very large number of small but choice herds. 
But few large breeding herds exist in the hands of aggressive promoters, 
but the wide distribution of the breed and their adaptability to Cali- 
fornia conditions insure their maintaining their position. 

In Holstein cattle California is most prominent. Several 
Holsteins. of our most wealthy men early made favorites of this great 

dairy breed, and their keen though friendly rivalry gave a 
great stimulus to heavy importation. A few Holsteins were shown here 
in 1874 but not until about 1883 were they generally introduced. About 



100 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

that time many large herds were established here, most of which have 
since been disbursed and widely distributed. This breed is now liber- 
ally used in all parts of the State and is giving general satisfaction. 
They are used with particular success where alfalfa grows in abund- 
ance and upon the rich bottom lands, resembling those of Holland, lying 
along California's great river system. Several small herds of this great 
breed now exist here, while three large herds have been collected and 
established, of a character which will compare favorably with the best 
herds of this breed in the Eastern States. One of these herds particu- 
larly is said to be easily the best in the United States, and to contain 
more choice animals and high-testing cows than any in this country. 
With the general introduction of irrigation and increase in population 
this breed will achieve a still wider popularity. 

A few Red Polls have been brought to California and have 
Red Polls met with popular favor. Wherever they have been used, 
and Brown either in the dairy or on the range, they have given satis- 
Swiss, faction; but their use has been so recent and so limited 

that they have made no impression on the type of Cali- 
fornia cattle. Even less can be said of the Brown Swiss, of which the 
writer knows of only one herd in the State. 

A considerable change is destined to soon take place in 
Future the cattle conditions of California. Her mining, grain- 

Conditions, growing and fruit-producing industries have been largely 

developed, and she is now turning her attention to live 
stock raising and mixed farming. Irrigation is being much more exten- 
sively resorted to, and alfalfa much more generally grown. This plant 
grows in California more perfectly probably than anywhere in the 
United States. By reason of this incomparable crop, and because the 
climatic and other physical conditions here are unequaled, we raise 
cattle as nowhere else, and our people are beginning to so realize. Our 
large holdings are being broken up into homesteads, our population is 
rapidly increasing, and the day of the small farmer and farm-breeder 
is near at hand. When the grade of our cattle is raised by the use of 
pure-bred sires ; when attention is given to care, selection and breeding, 
we will grow cattle in California which will give us a distinction as 
unique as that which we have heretofore enjoyed by reason of our 
products of fruit and gold. Cattle so grown will constitute an out- 
cross for Eastern herds. The climatic and physical conditions are so 
different here, and with care and attention the type of our animals will 
be so perfect and their constitutions so sound, that the Eastern breeder, 
when seeking blood with which to strengthen and improve his herd, will 
look across the continent to California, instead of as now, across the 
ocean to the mother countries. 



THE FISHES OF CALIFORNIA. 101 



THE FISHES OF CALIFORNIA. 



By DAVID STARR JORDAN, 

President of Leland Stanford Junior University. 



The total number of fishes known to exist in the waters of California 
is 435. These may be grouped in regard to their distribution, as follows : 
About 165 species may be referred to as cold-water fauna. These are 
species that live near the shore, and whose proper home is found north 
of Point Conception, or in the cold current which sweeps along our 
coast, and which renders its waters less warm than in corresponding 
regions on the Asiatic side. About 117 species belong to the semi- 
tropical fauna. This occurs to the south of Point Conception and 
beyond the reach of the cold currents of the north. Of course, these 
two categories are not sharply divided by Point Conception. Many of 
the northern species are found south of this point in deeper water 
or among the rocks, some even of the northern species going far down 
into Mexico. On the other hand, many southern species find their way 
northward as far as San Francisco. 

Of the 165 species that belong to the north of Point Conception we 
have two very distinct categories ; the one comprises the Arctic and sub- 
Arctic fishes like the halibut, the sturgeon, and the herring, and several 
varieties of the flounders. With these are a great body of peculiarly 
California types, which are scarcely or not at all represented in other 
regions, and which evidently had their origin upon our coast. Among 
these, and most conspicuous, are the' various species of surf fishes, all 
viviparous, all commonly and wrongly known as perch. Scarcely less 
abundant are the various species of rock fishes, red, green, and black 
in color, which go by the general name of rock cod. The presence of 
these two types, both viviparous, together with the peculiar coast type 
of salmon, is the most remarkable feature of the fish fauna of Cali- 
fornia. 

The species which belong south of Point Conception are in most cases 
closely allied to tropical species, and have evidently had their origin in 
migrations from the south. These are, as a rule, not distinctly Cali- 
fornian, but belong to types which are widely diffused through the 
warm waters of the tropics. Their relations are with the West Indian 
forms, rather than with the other fishes of California. 

About one hundred species of deep-sea fishes have been obtained by 
the "Albatross" in the depths of the ocean off the continental slope 
of California. These creatures are as a rule very soft in body and 
almost black in color, and many of them covered with luminous spots, 
or lanterns, by which they can see their way in the darkness. They live 
in the open sea, at a depth of from two to five miles, and their soft 
bodies at this depth are rendered firm by the tremendous pressure of 
the surrounding waters. In their native haunts the light and heat of 
the sun scarcely penetrate, the darkness is almost absolute, and the tem- 
perature of the water is at the point of freezing. The creatures living 
at these great depths are not, generally speaking, descended from the 



102 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

shore species of the same region. They constitute groups by themselves, 
and forms very similar are found in all parts of the ocean, from the 
poles to the equator. 

About forty-five species inhabit the fresh waters of California. These 
are about equally divided between the great basin of the Sacramento 
and the San Joaquin and the basin of the Colorado. Besides the species 
of trout, most of the fresh-water fishes come under the head of suckers 
and chubs. 

Of the whole number of fishes found, 133 of the marine 
Fishes for species are properly to be called food fishes, found more 
the Table. or less frequently in the markets, and being more or less 
fit for table use. The others, on account of small size, ill 
flavor or tastelessness of flesh, are not used for food, or else are used 
only when salted and dried by the Chinese, to whose soups and chowders 
nothing seems to come amiss. About twenty of the fresh-water fishes 
are also food fishes, but only seven or eight of these have much value 
as such. 

The distribution of fishes, that is, the question of the extent of the 
area inhabited by any particular kind, depends on a number of different 
conditions, the most important of these being the temperature of the 
water. Most fishes are extremely sensitive to any change of heat or 
cold. Where, as is sometimes the case, the temperature of the water 
changes abruptly at a given point, the character of the fishes will be 
found to change equally. A very little cold is often sufficient to 
benumb and paralyze a fish of the tropics. On the other hand, the 
fishes of cold regions can not endure any degree of heat to which they 
are not accustomed; and doubtless the fishes in the depths would be 
suffocated by the temperature of the surface water, even if their lives 
were not destroyed by the diminution of pressure. 

Another element almost equal in importance is that of depth. The 
great majority of marine fishes that we know well, or that we recognize 
as food fishes, are shore species, inhabiting depths of from one to fifteen 
fathoms. The great variety of oceanic life is found within this range, 
through which the light and heat of the sun readily penetrate. As we 
go lower we find that the shore fauna disappear. The greenish-colored 
shore fishes give place at from fifty to one hundred fathoms to other 
species, the prevailing color of which is red. The green or gray colors 
match the colors of the sand and kelp ; the red ones harmonize with 
the red sea mosses among which the red fishes live. In still greater 
depths, where light and heat disappear, the prevailing hues are violet 
or black, the color of darkness. 

Of less importance, but still a determining quality for very 
Cannibals many fishes, is the character of the food to be obtained. 
of the Sea. Each species thrives best where those creatures on which 
it naturally feeds are most abundant. The herbivorous 
fishes live among the tide pools, where they can feed upon the small 
seaweed; the crab-eating fishes live among the rocks, and those which 
feed upon herring and silver-sides flourish best in the open sea. 

As regards their preference in the matter of surroundings, the fishes 
of the coast may again be divided as follows: Of the pelagic species, 
about twenty visit the coast of California. These are fishes which swim 
freely in the open sea, living mostly near the surface, often moving for 



THE FISHES OF CALIFORNIA. 103 

hundreds of miles and belonging to no one country more than another. 
Of species living about the rocks and feeding upon the small animals 
which abound in the seaweeds there are fifty species, of which thirty 
belong to the group known as ' ' rock cod. ' ' All of these are food fishes, 
although not of the best quality. One feature concerning them which 
is not generally known is that all of them are viviparous. Their eggs 
are laid in immense numbers, but they are hatched in the body of the 
female, so that the young are born at the length of one fourth to one 
sixth of an inch, and commonly rolled up in a coil, only the closest 
observers being able to detect that the egg was hatched before being 
turned loose in the sea. 

Of the kelp fishes there are twenty-five species. These are chiefly 
confined to the beds of kelp w T hich are characteristic of the California 
coast, nothing like it existing on the Atlantic. Some of these feed upon 
seaweeds themselves, more upon the mollusks and crabs which find their 
home among the marine plants. Like the rock fishes, the kelp fishes are 
usually taken by the baited hook from the deck of a boat. 

There are ten anaclromous species ; that is, species which ascend the 
river in the spring or fall for the purpose of spawning in fresh water, 
but passing the greater part of their lives in the sea. Of the anadromous 
fishes the most important are the salmon; the largest in size are the 
sturgeons. But besides these species several little ones, such as the 
lampreys, have similar habits. 

The fisheries of the coast as a whole are relatively little developed. 
The bay of San Francisco, the bay of Monterey, the bay of San Diego, 
and a region about Avalon are fully fished — overfished at times; but 
the great length of the coast remains almost untouched. Captain Collins 
estimates that on the 2,000 miles of the coast of California, Oregon, and 
Washington the fisheries are about equal to those of 500 miles on the 
coast of New England. The value of the product is about the same in 
the two districts, and may be roughly set down at $15,000,000 per year. 
Of this amount the salmon fisheries of the Columbia represent between 
a third and a fourth, and some $4,000,000 belongs to California. This 
represents from 30,000,000 to 40,000,000 pounds of fishes each year. 

The salmon fisheries of the Sacramento are chiefly in the counties of 
Solano and Contra Costa. For a number of years these fisheries steadily 
declined. This was due to overfishing and to the destruction of the 
spawning beds through lumbering and placer mining. Practically, the 
only spawning beds left in the Sacramento basin are in the river itself 
about Red Bluff. The United States Fish Commission came to the 
rescue, and through the hatchery stations at Baird and Battle Creek 
it has repopulated the river. At present more salmon run in the Sac- 
ramento than when the stream flowed through primeval wilderness. 

The salmon of the Sacramento is the quinnat or king salmon, the 
largest and finest of all the salmon tribe. It reaches in four years an 
average weight of sixteen pounds. When mature, at the age of three 
or four years, it leaves the sea and runs up the stream to spawn. It 
leaves the sea in early summer and spawns in the fall in the upper 
reaches of the rivers. After spawning all die, male and female. After 
leaving the sea the salmon of this species never feed, although they 
readily take the trolling hook in Monterey Bay. The salmon has from 
4,000 to 5.000 eggs. As naturally spawned, one egg in a hundred or 



104 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

more hatches and escapes its enemies. The fish hatchery undertakes 
to hatch ninety-five out of every one hundred and to put them into the 
river to drift downward to the sea — "tail foremost," in the old salmon 
fashion — to return again as mature fishes. The salmon are best as 
taken in or near the sea. From August to October the old ones are 
practically unfit for food, being lean and poor. 

Besides the trout and salmon, California has many other 
The Real game fish. First of these is the great tunny, or leaping 
Fish Royal, tuna, which ranges from 150 pounds to half a ton, and 
finds its greatest abundance about Avalon. This wonder- 
ful bay has many roving fishes, taken with the trolling spoon — the yel- 
low tail, the albacore, and the huge bass called jewfish, with a head as 
large as a bushel basket. The barracuda and the great flying-fish are 
among the game fishes about the Santa Barbara islands. 

These noble fishes deserve protection from the amateur angler who 
catches a dozen or a hundred, has them hung up and photographed, him- 
self beside them, then hires the guide to bury them while he goes away 
to have fun in his own fashion somewhere else. 

Of introduced fishes, two, the striped bass and the shad, both planted 
about 1878 from the Potomac and the Schuylkill, have been of the 
greatest value to California. The striped bass can be found in the 
markets at all times, and in flavor they are as good as in their native 
waters. 

Other fishes which have been introduced are the carp, which has 
proved an unmitigated nuisance; two species of catfish, which while 
having value, have displaced better native fishes and should have been 
left at home ; the black bass, which thrives well in the ponds ; and the 
green-blue sunfish, introduced into Clear Lake as food for the bass. The 
most valuable fish yet to be introduced is the Japanese ayu, or samlet, 
a diminutive salmon about a foot long, as delicate in flesh as a fish can 
be. It runs in countless numbers in all the clear streams of Japan, 
Corea, and Formosa, and should have a place in California. The eel 
should also be introduced into California. 

I may note in passing that the markets of San Francisco fall far 
short of what they ought to be, and many fish are served in a stale con- 
dition. Even our best hotels are none too particular, for which reason 
our Eastern visitors often wrongly infer that our fish are not so good 
as those to which they are accustomed. The fish are just as good, but 
in our glorious climate they keep longer without decaying. But in 
doing this they grow very stale and lose their fine flavor. The difference 
is not in the fish, but in the care the dealers take of them, and as to 
this San Francisco will some time grow more exacting. 

The fisheries of Alaska are also largely tributary to Calif or- 
We Get nia, being developed by California capital and the product 

Alaska's mostly brought to San Francisco. The red salmon, blue- 

Best, back salmon, or sockeye, in Alaska outranks in value every 

other species of fish in the world. Its annual product in 
Alaska is worth $1,000,000 more than the original cost of Alaska to the 
United States. It exceeds the entire mineral output of Alaska per year 
by $1,750,000. The greatest red salmon fisheries are about Bristol Bay 
and Kadiak Island, but the species runs in some thirty different streams 
from Puget Sound northward to the Yukon. 



THE FISHES OF CALIFORNIA. 105 

The codfish is as abundant in the North Pacific as in the North Atlan- 
tic, but the limitations of the market have prevented their development, 
except about the Shumagin Islands and in the sea of Okhotsk. The 
herring and halibut have also a large and growing importance in Alaska. 
The following is a list of the chief food fishes of Califor- 
Our Chief nia, arranged in systematic order, beginning with those 
Food Fishes, of simplest anatomical structure. They are grouped in 
classes. A — those of high importance; B, C, D — pro- 
gressively less: 

Soup-fin shark (D), used by Chinese; California ray (D), used by 
Latin people. t 

White sturgeon (B), green sturgeon (D). 

Quinnat salmon (A), silver salmon (C). 

Steelhead trout (A), Tahoe trout (A). 

Rainbow trout (A), cut-throat trout (D). 

Dolly Varden trout (D), eulachon (C). 

Surf smelt (B), small smelt (C). 

Shad (introduced, A). 

Herring (A). 

Sardine (A), anchovy (C), silver anchovy (D), moraj- (D). 

Sucker (D), Squaw fish (D). 

Chub (D), carp (introduced, D). 

Bullhead (introduced, B), gray catfish (introduced, D). 

Needle-fish (D), flying-fish (C). 

Pesce rey (blue smelt, A) ; small pesce rey, miscalled smelt or white 
bait (C). 

Mullet (B), barracuda (A). 

Sand lance (D), chub mackerel (C). 

Santa Cruz mackerel (D), tuna (A). 

Albacore (A), oceanic bomto (D). 

California bomto (B), alleterato (D). 

Sword fish (C), yellow tail (A). 

Horse mackerel (C) ; poppy fish, miscalled pompano (B). 

Mariposa (D), Sacramento perch (C). 

Striped bass (introduced, A), jewfish (B), San Diego rock bass (C), 
banded ronco (D). 

Spot-fin croaker (C), queenfish (B). 

Kingfish (C), Sea bass (A). 

Weakfish (D) ; California surf fishes or perch, twenty kinds (C, D). 

Garibaldi (D), fathead (B). 

Senorita (D), headfish (D). 

Rock fish, thirty species, called rock cod (A). 

Priestfish, Spanish flag, Bocaccio, etc., red, black, green, banded or 
speckled (A, B). 

Skilfish (C), greenling (C). 

Blue-spotted greenling, sea trout (B) ; cultus cod (C). 

Blanquillo (C), kelp fish (D). 

Pollock (D), tomcod (B). 

Hake (C), halibut (A). 

Monterey halibut (B) ; flounders, thirty kinds (B, C). 



106 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



THE LUMBER INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA. 



By E. J. HOLT. 



Those who have gathered statistics (T. B. Walker of Minnesota, and 
others) upon the timber supply of the United States agree upon the fol- 
lowing (not reassuring) facts: 

In the whole country they find about 1,003,000,000,000 feet (board 
measure — one inch thick and twelve inches square) of visible supplv 
now standing. Of this total about 625,000,000,000 feet (over 61 per 
cent) is in the three Pacific Slope states, viz., Washington, Oregon, and 
California. Of these three, Oregon has 225,000,000^000 feet (36 per 
cent), California and Washington each 200,000,000,000 feet (32 per 
cent ) . 

The census of 1900 shows that the timber cut of that year was 
26,000,000,000 feet, or .026 of the visible standing. Beyond this the 
supply was further depleted by some 3,000,000,000 feet cut into shingles, 
railroad ties, piles and other similar round, hewn and split products, and 
the process of elimination is increasing in an alarming degree. At this 
rate, were it possible to fit the product to the needs of the market, thirty- 
five years would see the end of our United States supply. 

However, there is a saving clause so far as the California forests are 
concerned, inasmuch as the greater supply and greater demand is for 
"common" grades for rough and framing work, for which, when the 
time comes, steel will be more largely substituted; while California's 
high-grade finishing woods will supply the needs for a longer period by 
far than thirty-five years. 

California's asset in her timbered lands is, therefore, becoming appre- 
ciated not only because of its present value, but more particularly as it 
is the last and at the same time to be the most valuable forest on earth. 

This pertinent fact demonstrates that as the timber tracts of the 
United States east of the Rocky Mountains are rapidly becoming 
exhausted, especially so far as refers to woods in quantity and of quality 
with which to supply the domestic trade with material for interior and 
exterior finishing, shop work, doors and sash, etc., in fact, for all other 
purposes than common framing, the market must soon be largely sup- 
plied from this coast, and that California will, as time goes on, be called 
upon more and more for its wood for these and many other purposes. 

The particular uses mentioned require "clear" or "select" qualities 
of wood susceptible of easy working, slight shrinking and swelling, and 
which will take and hold good a finished surface, and of all Pacific coast 
woods, the redwood, sugar pine and white pine of California are pre- 
eminently adapted to fulfill these requirements. 

California woods also offer a source of supply sufficient for the prob- 
able needs of the next three generations, inasmuch as redwood trees pro- 
duce from 40 to 75 per cent of "clear" and sugar pine and white pine 
from 20 to 30 per cent, as as-ainst the 3 to 5 per cent of the woods of the 
Middle West. 



108 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

California produces a variety of commercial woods, the most used 
being redwood, white pine, sugar pine, fir, spruce, cedar, "bull" pine, 
cottonwood, laurel, and eucalyptus, and in proportionate quantities 
about in the order named, redwood being produced in the largest quan- 
tity of any, while the four last named cut but little commercial figure. 

(Sequoia sempervirens) is indigenous to this State; it 
Redwood covers a tract on the northwestern coast of California 
beginning at the northern line (there being not over 2,000 
acres over the line in Oregon), and occupies a continuous and fog-fed 
district from the seacoast eastward to the crest of the Coast Range of 
mountains about 240 miles long (north and south) and from 10 to 20 
miles wide. 

In this district were originally about 1,200,000 acres of redwood tim- 
bered lands, comprising practically the world's total supply of this most 
magnificent wood, having from sixty to seventy billion feet of superb 
merchantable timber, besides from 10 to 20 per cent more in volume of 
by-products — split ties and posts, wood, some fir and tan bark. 

Some thirty-four mill plants have since 1860 grown up and grown 
rich in this district, and they now own one half of the timbered acre- 
age. These mills have removed probably not more than 20 per cent of 
the original standing, having during the forty-eight years averaged 
220,000,000 feet per annum, while the cut from 1903 from this district 
(comprising the counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, and 
Sonoma), has been as follows: 1903, 300,000,000; 1904, 325,000,000; 
1905, 390,000,000; 1906, 460,000,000; 1907, 440,000,000; 1908 (esti- 
mated), 325,000,000. The present mill capacity is about 450,000,000 
feet, based on the theoretical ability to run continuously, which, how- 
ever, is an overestimate of practicable results. 

It will be noted that the result of the catastrophe of April 18, 1906, 
by which San Francisco lost $500,000,000 worth of property, was to 
largely stimulate the demand for and production of lumber. 

San Francisco yards stocks were at that time fairly heavy, but in 
addition to the largely increased receipts of lumber from mills (both 
fir and redwood) were soon practically all consumed in the rebuilding 
operations which began within forty-eight hours after the disaster. 
Very little stock lumber was consumed by fire; 1907 receipts also were 
large, as building continued and yards were gradually restocked. 

In the fall of 1907, temporary rebuilding being largely done, and the 
general financial condition of the whole country being that of restric- 
tion, trade demands decreased until in the first four months of 1908, 
106,000,000 feet of redwood were shipped from the producing territory 
above dealt with. This would indicate an expected production for 1908 
of about 325,000,000 of feet, or about the same as for the year 1904, 
which was a normal year. 

The effect of the 1906 holocaust upon the future demand for this 
wood probably will be to increase it 10 per cent a year, as the general 
conditions likely to obtain in California's (which is redwood's best 
market) progress promise that or a better increase in all lines of trade 
with which the demand for lumber is generaly commensurate. 

The further existing supply of this wood is found only in the three 
small counties lying next south of San Francisco along the coast. This 
supply is very limited, the acreage being small and the timber of low 




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^fft^TTM* •*, * 



110 



CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



grade, while the present rate of production, even though not now sup- 
plying the full demand of these counties, will have exhausted the total 
supply within the next decade. 

In the middle eastern part of the State stand in scattered groves the 
total remaining samples of the sequoia gigantea, the monarchs of the 
world's forests. They, too, are redwood (sequoia), but of a very different 
character, the product being brittle and soft and therefore not only 
difficult to handle hut also mars so easily as to place it at a disadvantage 
in the markets where it meets the sempervirais. The nearby rail mar- 
kets will consume the product at good paying prices. 

A wise government should, however, buy and reserve this melancholy 
remnant of the most wonderful tree product of the world, not alone for 




SAWING REDWOOD LOGS. 

the sentimental value, but also for the very practical and absolutely 
essential purpose of conserving the supply of water for the irrigation 
of the enormous and wonderfully fertile San Joaquin valley, which with 
water could support a population of fivejtnillion souls. 

Besides these standing sequoias "there are no others on earth except a 
few stunted trees in Japan. A curious fact and food for speculation 
is the presence of fossil remains of secpioia in Nevada, indicating, as^cTo 
other facts, that we are witnessing the dying gasps of the last few T hoary 
giants of an expiring species, probably the grandest flora of creation. 
Scientific research proves the age of many of these trees to be nine hun- 
dred or more years, while it is an accepted probability that some of them 
were glorifying their Creator long before the beginning of the Chris- 
tian era. 

From the foregoing it will be clear that the redwood of commerce, 
from the broader standpoint, will all come from the district on the north- 
west coast of California. 



THE LUMBER INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA. Ill 

The topography of this district is generally that of a slope westerly 
from the crest of the Coast Range of mountains, which slope is serrated 
by lateral ridges separated by streams and rivers fed annually by from 
50 to 80 inches of rain. The water shipping point in Del Norte County 
is an open roadstead; while for the whole of Humboldt County, the 
great bay of the same name affords a number of landings. 

Mendocino County has a rock-bound coast without bays or harbors, 
and cargoes are loaded over suspended wire chutes or trolleys, the outer 
end of the trolley wires being anchored in the ocean. The wire crosses 
the deck of the moored steamer, the slack being taken up to ship 's gaff, 
thus making a tight wire, up and down which a traveling car is sent. 

Del Norte and Humboldt have no railroad connections with the mar- 
kets, and but a very small part of the output of the other counties is 
now so handled, 95 per cent of the total being handled by water. Rail- 
road connections to these sections are shortly promised. 

Logging is mainly done by steam, fixed engines (bull donkeys), opera- 
ting as much as one and a half miles of steel wire, dragging a train of 
logs containing from 30,000 to 50,000 feet to either a river bank or more 
often to a logging railroad, which in turn delivers the logs to the mill. 
Logs are cut in lengths of from 12 to 20 feet and from 16 inches diam- 
eter up to capacity of mill. 

Sawing is clone mainly with heavy band-saw mills, which have lately 
displaced most of the old double and triple circulars. 

Machinery is necessarily very heavy, as butt logs frequently sink, 
while the average weight of fresh-sawn lumber is nearly four pounds 
per board foot. Commercial trees have diameters at the stump ranging 
from 20 inches to 17 feet, and averaging about four feet in the northern 
part of the district, and one foot less in the southern part. 

Mill companies generally own their lands, at costs varying from 60 
cents to $1.50 per thousand feet on the stump up to 1900, and increasing 
in value to average now probably twice that figure and in exceptional 
cases to even three times the highest figures named. 'A mill buying 
stumpage for immediate cutting would be called upon to pay from $1.50 
to $4.50 per thousand feet on the stump, according to availability, 
amount per acre, quality, etc. Humboldt and Del Norte timbered lands 
carry from 50,000 to 150,000 feet per acre, averaging about 75,000 feet, 
while Mendocino County lands carry from 35,000 to 100,000 feet per 
acre, averaging from 50,000 to 60,000 feet. Quality of product is 
softest in the northern part of the district, more acid appearing with 
consequent increasing hardness and weight the farther south the 
growth. 

The figures of average per acre must be elastic, as more skillful mill- 
ing and logging operations are developed, and as appreciation of the 
increasing value of this restricted supply is driven home in the minds 
of those interested, the product per acre is gradually increased. 

More careful felling of trees, less wasteful methods of logging, thin- 
ner band saws, closer utilization of what formerly went into slab and 
edging burners, the use of veneers and shorter lengths ; all these causes 
are becoming more effective in the direction of salvage of this mag- 
nificent product. 

The above general average figures can now probably be safely 
increased by 10 to 15 per cent with still better results likely to follow. 



112 



CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



Markets for redwood are world wide. Its fitness for a great variety 
of uses is extraordinary. Its fire-resisting qualities are unique, owing 
to presence of acid and absence of pitch or resin. When green it is 
difficult to burn it at all, and when dry it is not easy to ignite and is 
easily extinguished. The Fire Marshal of San Francisco is on record 
in writing, authorizing its use in the building of "fire walls" above 
brick buildings. When the Baldwin Hotel (six stories of brick and 
wood) burned in San Francisco some years ago, two redwood water 
tanks on top of the only standing brick wall were found to be intact, 
being hardly charred, and were still water-tight. It endures the action 
of both weather and soil to a remarkable degree, the "writer having in 
his office a shingle in good condition which was taken from a roof in 







A DOOMED FOREST GIANT. 



Fort Humboldt after forty-one years of service. Experience proves its 
efficient life under ground to be twelve years, as against fir, four years, 
and oak, six years. Its acid also makes it distasteful to insect pests, 
and effectually prevents their ravages, which are so disastrous to most 
other woods. Marine pests will attack it ultimately, but only to a 
limited degree and after a long time. Costs of product delivered in 
San Francisco average about $13 per thousand feet, while the present 
selling price averages approximately $18 per thousand feet. 

Quoting two authorities: "Such, then, are some of the qualities and 
many of the uses to which redwood is preeminently adapted ; and when 
its virtues have been properly tested, it has never yet been supplanted 
by and other wood in the lines for which its peculiar virtues recommend 
it. The constant increasing demand in countries where introduced 
speaks volumes in its praise. It is certainly very difficult to find any 



THE LUMBER INDUSTRY OP CALIFORNIA. 



11:* 



constructive wood in the whole realm of building material that for 
beauty and grandeur of growth, variety of grain, structure or color, or 
the purposes for which it can be used, will surpass the s<<]i<<>i<t sem- 
j>t rvirens." 

"It is a beautiful lumber, wide and clear. It has a quality distinct 
as the territory in which it grows. While not a veritable salamander, 
it is closely related to the salamander tribe. The district bounded by 
the fire limits of San Francisco is smaller than that of any other city of 




NEAR EEL RIVER. 



its size in the country; one reason being that the buildings are con- 
structed largely of redwood and will not easily burn. * * The 
fact that redwood swells, shrinks or warps but slightly especially adapts 
it not only for shingles but for tanks, vats and patterns, while its rich 
color and susceptibility to high polish, especially of the curly grained 
varieties and high birdseye burls, are bringing it into great demand for 
cabinet work. * * * The stumps of trees felled half a century ago 
are mostly as sound to-day as they ever were. Rarely does a redwood 
stump show signs of decay. * * * Will redwood hold paint? Here 



114 



CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



again is culled out one of the many good qualities of this matchless 
wood. Redwood will hold paint better than any other building wood, 
a fact that is demonstrated beyond a doubt wherever it is in use; and 
this, together with its non-warping and non-shrinking qualities, make it 
peculiarly adapted for siding and outside finishing of buildings." 

The foregoing comments regarding the fire-resisting qualities of red- 
wood are in nowise disproved by the fire of April 18, 1906. In that 
tremendous heat, stone of all kinds, basalt street blocks, and cement 
sidewalks were, in the most exposed places, practically disintegrated. 
In many cases the furniture in tall stone and brick buildings were set 
on fire, through the upper windows, where no flame came within fifty 




A REDWOOD BOARD SIXTEEN FEET WIDE. 



feet, such was the intense destructive power of the superheated air from 
the great furnaces near by. 

In 1897 a book called the "Home of the Redwood" was published, 
setting forth by word and picture the wonders and details of the red- 
wood industry. Unfortunately but few copies remain unsold, as East- 
ern lumbermen have of later years been busily showing their faith by 
their acts of investigation and investment. 

Sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana) and White pine (Pinus 
Pine. ponderosa) have their habitat in the high Sierra, near the 

snow line. These woods grow mixed and are friendly 
neighbors with the "bull" pine (Pinus jeffreyi) and a cedar, which 
latter two, however, are of scanty supply, coarse growth, and therefore 
used for rough work locally, not being qualified to meet other woods 
in common markets. 

The lowest altitude in which these woods best thrive is about 3,000 



THE LUMBER INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA. 115 

feet, while the highest is about 7,000 feet, the best growth occurring at 
an elevation of from 4,000 to 4,500 feet. They are evergreen; their 
needles dropping as new ones grow throughout the year. They thrive 
best in the red mountain soil, which is a mixture of clay and bedrock, 
substrata of the mountains being slate and granite. 

The average diameter of saw-timber is about 3 feet, though trees down 
to 14 inches in diameter are cut for sawlogs. The larger specimens 
attain a diameter of from 8 to 12 feet, with a height of from 180 to 250 
feet. The average distance from ground to limbs is 60 feet, though 
frequently 90-foot bodies are found. These woods also grow mixed with 
redwood on the coast, but they are of hybrid quality and infrequent. 

The natural habitat is like that of redwood, its northern extreme in 
southern Oregon, but extends southeasterly to the desert section of the 
southern part of the State, not far south of Yosemite Valley. It also 
grows to some extent in Nevada and in Arizona; but in these latter 
districts the growth is sparse, the body short, and the quality of much 
lower grade than that of California. The best growth is in the tier of 
counties in the northern central part of the State having a westerly 
watershed, and is practically continuous southeasterly. 

The Southern Pacific Railroad and its easterly branches at Sisson, 
Chico, Red Bluff, Sacramento, Stockton, and along the east side of the 
upper part of the San Joaquin Valley, receive and transport the total 
cut of these woods except such little as is used locally. In many cases 
private mill-owned roads connect mills with main railroad, and also in 
many cases box and door factories located at mills prepare the lower 
grades of the product for their ultimate uses, thus saving both cost in 
manufacture and in transportation. Logging is done partly by steam 
and partly with animals, as the logs average much smaller than red- 
wood, but still much larger than the pine of the Middle West. 

Costs of production vary, but probably average close to $12.50 per 
thousand feet on board main-line car, while the selling prices range 
from $10 for low-grade box material to $50 for No. 1. 

The sugar and white pine interests are in a flourishing condition, due 
to the efforts put forth in the past three years by the principal manu- 
facturers in introducing this lumber throughout the entire Eastern 
States, between the Rocky Mountains and the Atlantic seaboard, from 
Wisconsin to the Gulf of Mexico, and it has been demonstrated through 
the manufacturers of sash and doors and to the general user of white 
pine throughout this vast territory, that the California product holds 
equal merit with the old-time popular so-called cork pine of Michigan 
and the white pine of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. 

These woods are white, soft, durable, straight-grained, easy to work, 
slow to absorb dampness, take polish or paint, will and can be milled 
in match sizes without splitting easily, though splitting clean if forced. 
They shrink less than most pines, which fact is essential in good flooring 
timber, but these woods are too soft for this purpose, yet are unsur- 
passed for finish, ceiling, doors and sash, piano key boards, matches, ship 
construction, patterns, trays, sinks, kitchen tables, cabinets, shelving, 
etc. Where reasonable strength, durability, ease in working by either 
hand or machinery, cleanliness and stability of form and surface are 
wanted at a reasonable price, these woods have no peer. 

The Diamond Match Company has lately acquired large holdings in 
the counties of Butte, Plumas, and Tehama and has completed a 35-mile 



116 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

standard railroad to connect its tract with the main railroad at Chico. 
The company plans a total investment of over $3,000,000, a good part 
of which is already expended. The Scott & Van Arsdale Lumber Com- 
pany has a similar plant in full operation in Shasta County, worth 
$3,000,000 or more. These plants are exceptions, however. 

The annual average cut of sugar and white pine during the last ten 
years has approximated 300,000,000 feet. The 1908 cut. owing to 
unfavorable financial conditions, will probably be about 250,000,000 
feet, though the demand promises to consume this as well as some of the 
unsold 1907 cut. 

It is confidently anticipated, judging from the general trade develop- 
ments promised, as well as because of special efforts to widen markets, 
that the L909 cut will be near 400,000,000 feet. This will probably 
remain about stationary thereafter, as these woods are now owned by a 
very few operators, and as the very excellent policy of the National Gov- 
ernment in creating forest reserves has made it less easy than formerly 
for small operators to locate near main transportation. Through these 
causes distances from trunk rail has become greater. The topography 
of the timbered country and its approaches is invariably rough, there- 
fore, railroad building through it is enormously expensive. These facts 
seem to justify the expectation of few added plants and nearly sta- 
tionary future volume of production. 

In conclusion, it seems fit that this article should make a plea for 
forest preservation, conservation and renewal. Under present laws and 
competition, the methods of lumbering are wasteful in the extreme, it 
being a probable fact that approximately only 50 per cent of the actual 
standing timber is marketed, while the logged-over tracts are burned 
and totally neglected, to the utter extinction of the forest tree in that 
locality. Reforestry is unthought of and the young trees are treated as 
a nuisance. 

Wise, strict laws on this subject, patterned after those of Germany 
or Russia, should be at once conclusively considered by our Government. 



COMMERCIAL. 



By HON. GEORGE C, PERKINS. 

United States Senator. 



Two recent wars have caused the entire world to realize that the 
Pacific Ocean is now to be the scene of the greatest human activity. 
The Avar of the United States with Spain gave us possessions which 
bring us within speaking distance of Asia, and the war between Japan 
and Russia showed the former to herself and to the world as one of the 
most powerful and progressive nations, whose future sphere of action 
will of necessity lie within the boundaries of the ocean separating 
America from the Orient. 

After the close of these wars the people of each country took up with 
more zest than ever the work of internal development and commercial 



CdAI MKKCIAL. 



117 



expansion. Japan encouraged industrial growth and the attainment 
of Asiatic markets, and America turned her attention to the trade 
with the Far East. More than ever the necessity for a shorter line of 
communication between the Atlantic and the Pacific was realized, and 
the result was the acquisition of proprietary rights across the Isthmus 
of Panama, and the beginning of the construction of a canal. When 
it joins the Atlantic to the Pacific the course of the world's commerce 
will be changed. Then the shortest line for sea traffic between the 
Orient, the eastern shores of the United States and western Europe 
will run through the isthmus, and then, following the great circle 
route, will pass close to the Pacific coast of North America until it 
swings just south of the Alaskan peninsula and Aleutian Islands to 




BOUND FOR THE ORIENT. 



Japan and China. This, the shortest route to the Orient, will cause 
the greater part of transpacific commerce to pass within one hundred 
and fifty-three miles of San Francisco harbor. These few miles in the 
course of long voyages between ports on the Atlantic and the Oriental 
countries, are so insignificant by comparison that San Francisco will 
be made a port of call for nearly all the traffic to and from China. 
The "City of the Golden Gate" will therefore be drawn into intimate 
contact with six hundred million Asiatics, with whom trade relations 
will give rise to a commerce so vast that nobody can estimate its extent 
and value. 

As the commercial possibilities of the countries bordering on the 
Pacific are developed, more and more will it be realized how fortunate 
is the situation of the United States. Practically the entire western 
coast line of North America is ours. Our possessions stretch westward 



118 



CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



from the longitude of San Diego fifty-five degrees, inclosing the North 
Pacific in the great protecting arm of Alaska, which almost touches 
the shore of Asia. 

When we purchased Alaska we hardly knew what we were doing. 
To the popular mind we had bought a land of tundra, swamp, impass- 
able mountains, perpetual snow and ice and an impossible climate, 
where civilized man, even if he could keep from starving, could not 




ALONG THE WHARVES AT SAN FRANCISCO. 



hope to do more. Our money was thought to have been shamefully 
wasted. But it is a matter of fact that the seals taken from the three 
small Pribilof Islands have alone returned much more to the govern- 
ment than the purchase price of the whole territory, and a single mine 
of low grade ore has already produced four times the cost of the entire 
domain. 

The value of the yearly catch of salmon equals the amount paid, 
while the 3 r early output of gold has reached a figure nearly double the 
purchase price. And now copper is rapidly coming to the front as 
one of the great resources of the territorv. 



120 



CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



Railroads are being constructed throughout the interior, opening up 
rich mining regions and making available for smelting and other pur- 
poses the coal from the rich deposits that have already been discovered. 
The presence of tin has also been revealed, and prospecting for oil is 
proceeding, with every indication that it will be found in paying cpian- 
tities. Perhaps the most important discovery thus far made is coal, for 
with good and abundant fuel, mining and all allied industries are 
rendered capable of expansion up to the limit of metallic deposit, and 
this limit has not yet been even approximately ascertained. Alaska is 
the great right arm of the Empire of the Pacific, stretching westward 
and holding in its embrace the northern Pacific Ocean, bringing it 




RIVER TRAFFIC. 



within the sphere of our direct influence and giving to it a character 
exclusively American. 

That part of this mighty Empire which will, in all probability, 
always remain the most important, is California. This great State, 
with nearly a thousand miles of coast line, which in the time of R. II. 
Dana presented a barren, sandy, fog-laden shore and vast valleys brown 
with dust and bare as a desert, has in half a century become the garden 
of the world. The harbors, which were only visited then by hide 
droghers, have become centers of commerce, and large cities have 
arisen on what to Dana were the bleakest of shores. (Jold brought the 
Americans, and the Americans brought energy and enterprise, and it 
was not long till the interior valleys began to export foodstuffs for 
the world. Already California has driven the prune of France from 



COMMERCIAL. 12] 

the American market; the wines of France, Italy, Germany and Spain ; 
the oranges and lemons of Spain. Sicily and the West Indies; the raisins 
of Spain and the currants of Greece; the nuts and olive oil of Spain and 
France; and it is fast displacing the figs of Smyrna. 

Whatever can be grown in other parts of the world not exposed to 
extremes of climate can be grown here. New fruits are even made to 
order, as it were, by that wizard in plant science, Luther Burbank. 
The earth is being scoured by experts for the discovery of trees and 
plants to be added to the constantly increasing varieties grown within 
the State. Siberia and Italy, India and Brazil, Norway and Africa, 
are being drawn upon for fruits, grains and plants that may add to the 
pleasure, comfort and riches of man. And all this wonderful expansion 
of productive energy is made possible by the science wdiich conserves 
the moisture of the land, and by the engineering winders which make 1 
the living streams contribute their power to the barren soil. 

And this work has only commenced. Already are under discussion 
plans to completely harness the great Sacramento River and its tribu- 
taries, so that no drop of water may escape giving to man its measure 
of usefnlness at the same time that its destructive power shall be forever 
curbed. The smaller streams which feed the great rivers are being made 
agents of development, the full extent of which it is impossible to 
predict. Water power without limit has been going to waste in the 
mountains, but now every stream is known to be the source of great 
wealth, and the power which it furnishes is being conveyed by electric 
wires to all parts of the State, making manufacture possible where 
before it could not exist, extending and multiplying means of commu- 
nication, lighting towns and cities, running mines and mills, and doing 
the thousand and one things for which power is necessary. 

California now has within its borders all that is needed for unlimited 
development, and that that development may well be unlimited one can 
comprehend when its vast resources are understood. The next half- 
century will witness an expansion here on all industrial lines that will 
vastly transcend anything which has gone before; for there will be the 
additional impulse of the awaking across the Pacific, whose waves of 
commerce will beat on California's shores with a sound that will incite 
all its people to utmost effort in the struggle for supremacy. Then will 
loom large on the Western shore of the continent the Great American 
Empire of the Pacific. 



122 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES IN CALIFORNIA. 



By ROBERT FURLONG. 



Whatever advantages in soil, climate or products a country may 
possess, the social conditions must also be attractive to make it desirable 
for family residence. 

California has been endowed by nature with a fertile soil, with a 
climate unsurpassed, and with rich and varied products that are yielded 
in abundance. Her citizens, emulating nature's example, have in like 
liberal spirit established those agencies that contribute to man's social 
enjoyment. 

Schools, churches, libraries, fraternal and other civic organizations 
are general throughout the State. None of these agencies for good 
society are wholly lacking, and, except in sparsely settled mountain 
regions, all are accessible to every resident. Nor are these institutions 
of the primitive type, but are modern and, as a rule, housed in well- 
apportioned buildings. 

Of the several social factors named, none is closer to the hearts of 
the people than the school. In the country the schoolhouse is the central 
place of interest, and the school the bond that unites many families into 
one district community. In the city it is valued as an important agency 
in the training of youth, and considered necessary for good citizenship. 

Few, if any, other states or countries have made such liberal provision 
for a general system of public education as has California. The founders 
of the State over fifty years ago inserted in its Constitution a section 
providing for the education of youth. This soon after led to the enact- 
ment of school laws, to the establishment of schools and to the building 
up of a state school system. California 's educational system is a growth, 
the growth of half a century of careful cultivation. Modeled originally 
from some of the best systems then in use in older states, it has since 
been many times modified to meet the needs of a rapidly developing 
population. In its present advanced form it is recognized by many 
educators as being the most nearly perfect system of public education 
in America. Its standards are high, its scope is broad and comprehen- 
sive, covering the whole field of school and college education. 

To the intending immigrant a knowledge of the educational facilities 
the State has to offer to its residents is particularly desirable, for it is 
generally acknowledged that where school facilities are lacking few, 
if any, parents will care to rear their children, even when other condi- 
tions are favorable. On the other hand, a good school near by often 
determines the location of the future family home. It can here be 
truthfully stated that there is no community in California without a 
school. Elementary schools instructing in all the essentials of an 
English education are general. The law requires the establishment of 
such schools and provides for their maintenance. 

The conditions under which a new school district may be organized 
are readily complied with where convenience or necessity indicates a 
change should be made. By this subdivision of a large district a new 



EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES IN CALIFORNIA. 123 

community may secure a school where one has not previously been 
conducted. In this way school districts have been multiplied through- 
out the State. Many of these have a single-department rural school. 
When school attendance becomes sufficiently large, several teachers are 
employed and the pupils are classified into primary and grammar 
departments. Rural schools of this character are numerous in the 
fruit sections where the population is dense. Such schools have all the 
advantages of well-equipped city schools. Town and villages have 
graded schools of several departments similar to the graded rural 
schools described. 

Every city is a school district of itself and has a board of education 
and a city superintendent to direct the work. Each city has its own 
course of study. Because of the large teaching force, close grading 
can be secured in a city department. This permits of a course of study 
somewhat more elaborate than that prescribed in the county manual 
for schools outside city limits. Special supervisors for such studies as 
drawing, vocal music, manual training and physical education are often 
employed in city schools to aid the regular class teachers. A teacher 
in a city department seldom has more than one grade of pupils, whereas 
a teacher in a rural school usually has several grades. 

It does not follow, however, that good work can not be done in a 
school of mixed grades. Many of the brightest students in the high 
schools and in the college courses have come from country schools 
having a single teacher. It should be borne in mind that this district 
school with one teacher, so common in the rural sections of California, 
is an important factor in the State's educational system. It is of a 
much higher class than the rural schools of many of the older states. 

The instruction in the California country district is intended to cover 
the whole field of elementary education. The pupils of such schools 
are classified and graded the same as are pupils of town and village 
schools. A county course of study is the same for all schools, except 
those in cities. Such a course is followed with nearly as much precision 
in a single-department country school as in any other class. 

The legal qualifications of teachers are alike for like grades of certifi- 
cates, the requirements being the same for country and city. Perhaps 
in no other State or country must teachers in rural schools hold certifi- 
cates as high as are held by their fellow workers in the city depart- 
ment. These observations are made here to show that a country resi- 
dence in California does not to any appreciable extent deprive families 
of the best school privileges. The State aims to educate all of its 
children, giving to all like privileges, so far as conditions will permit. 
To this end, through State and county support, appropriations amount- 
ing to nearly nine millions of dollars per year are expended on the 
public schools. This serves to maintain the schools during eight to 
ten months in the year. All cities, towns and many country districts 
have their schools in session ten months each year. 

The elementary school described in the foregoing are objects "of 
special favor by the State, as the state school fund is used exclusively 
in the payment of their teachers. It is in them that the great mass of 
the children of California receive their early education. As previously 



124 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

stated, the course is broad and full, including all branches below the 
high school. 

The teachers employed are well qualified for their work, many of 
them coming' to it from professional training schools. But these ele- 
mentary schools present only one feature of California's educational 
system. Secondary or high schools form another and a higher class, 
presenting a different phase of educational activity. 

These secondary schools have academic courses that prepare pupils 
for college entrance. Many of them have additional courses that arc 
elective and do not contemplate later university work. Admission 
to the secondary schools is to pupils who have finished the elementary 
course. There are three classes of these schools in the State, known as 
"city high schools," "county high schools," and "union district high 
schools." All have much the same plan and purpose, differing only in 
details of administration and support. Revenue for the maintenance 
of these high schools comes in part from the State through direct appro- 
priation, but is chiefly levied upon the locality maintaining the school. 

Union district high schools are multiplying rapidly throughout the 
State. They are formed, as the name indicates, by a union of several 
districts that jointly furnish students and support for one central high 
school. All taxable property within the area of a union district shares 
equally in the expense. This class of high school is very popular in 
the rural sections, as it brings within the reach of country homes a 
school that gives all necessary preparations for college. There are now 
few counties in the State that have not one or several schools of this 
class. They have in general good, substantial buildings, costing vari- 
ously from fifteen thousand to a hundred thousand dollars each. City 
high schools are increasing in number also. 

The teachers employed in all high schools must have attainments of 
a high order. Seldom any are legally qualified who have not a college 
degree from some university of good standing. 

There are also a number of private academies, military schools, con- 
vents, and other private institutions of learning of recognized merit, 
in different parts of the State, that fit pupils for college. These, as a 
rule, charge tuition. Families preferring private education for their 
children have little difficulty in finding select schools -of the kind 
desired, whether secular or sectarian. Many of the church denomina- 
tions have colleges and seminaries, as well as schools of lower grades, 
in which religious instruction is part of the course. There is an exten- 
sive system of parochial schools throughout the State, limited mainly 
to the cities and larger towns. 

The higher education is represented in California chiefly by two great 
universities that are classed among the leading institutions in America. 
These are the University of California at Berkeley, Alameda County, 
and the Leland Stanford Junior University at Palo Alto, in Santa Clara 
County. They are less than fifty miles apart, centrally located and 
easily reached from all parts of the State. 

The first-named is part of the State's public educational system. 
Maintained at public expense, its doors are open free to all students of 
either sex who hold proper credentials for admission to its colleges. 
In the number of its students, the wide range of its college courses and 



EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES IX CALIFORNIA. 125 

the general facilities that this institution presents for students' work, 
'"Berkeley" takes high rank among great universities. Branch colleges 
for vocational study and for scientific research, belonging to the univer- 
sity, are located in different parts of the State. Of these a group of col- 
leges is in San Francisco, in which law. medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, 
veterinary surgery are pursued as professional studies. Tuition is 
charged in some of these professional courses. The Lick Observatory. 
perhaps the best-known astronomical station in the world, is a part of 
the University of California, on Mount Hamilton, near- San .lose. 
Experiment stations for scientific research are also under the direction 
of the State institution at Berkeley, but are located elsewhere. 

No less known or noted is "Stanford," as is popularly called the must 
richly endowed university in the world at Palo Alto. Its history and 
that of its illustrious founders is so well known as not to need review 
here. It is not due to its liberal endowment, however, that this grand 
university has become known to the educational world. Its plan and 
purpose, as designed by its founders, its policy as a university, com- 
bined with the strength of faculty, gave it high rank from the begin- 
ning, which position it has since successfully maintained. 

Both of these grand institutions for the higher education are open. 
practically without tuition, to the youth of California. No State in 
the Union can offer better than this — few, if any, as good. 

There are a number of other institutions for the higher education, 
of lesser rank than the two named, that confer degrees. They are col- 
leges of good standing, mostly under the control of some religious sect 
and, as a rule, supported by tuition fees. 

It will be seen that facilities for the higher or college education are 
not behind those of older states. In some particulars they are better, 
which fact induces many students to cross the continent for the purpose 
of study at the California universities. 

Besides a State Polytechnic School, located at San Luis Obispo, there 
are schools of mechanical arts, of mechanical trades and of industrial 
or manual training. 

There are five normal schools conducted by the State for the profes- 
sional training of teachers. These are so located in different parts of 
the State that some one of the schools is easily reached by students from 
any residence section. From these State normal schools chiefly come the 
great army of teachers employed in the grammar and primary schools 
of the State. The professional standard is high for teachers in the 
lowest grade. Superintendents of schools, supervisors, inspectors, 
boards of education for cities and for counties, together with a State 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, direct the work of education in 
the public school system. 

Upon the whole, it will be seen from the foregoing that education 
in California occupies a prominent place, that it is general throughout 
the State, that it is free to every resident, even in its highest institu- 
tions. From the kindergarten through the various elementary and high 
school grades to the college, inclusive, education is without direct cost 
to the youth of the State. Families desirious of making homes in Cali- 
fornia will find here every facility for the education of their children. 



126 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

MORAL AND RELIGIOUS LIFE IN CALIFORNIA. 



By CHARLES R. BROWN, 
Pastor of First Congregational Church, Oakland. 



In all the years of human history men of moral vision have been 
going west. Many of them went out not knowing whither they went, 
sailing under sealed orders and unaware of the full significance of their 
action, but nevertheless moving forward in the definite fulfillment of 
a divine purpose. 

It was in that spirit of faith that Abraham left Chaldea — he went 
out, he went west, to Canaan to rear his family in the worship of one 
God. Thus Paul went out — he too, went west from Troas in Asia to 
Macedonia in Europe, that he might plant his gospel in the newer conti- 
nent. Thus the Christian missionaries in the days of Augustine went 
out — they went west from Italy to England, when the latter country was 
pagan, that they might evangelize the people. Thus Christian men went 
west from Europe to become the early settlers in our own land, laying 
the foundation of the republic in faith and devotion. Thus Whitman 
and Benton, Junipero Serra and Thomas Starr King went out, going 
west to make known upon the Pacific coast the message of divine love. 
And thus the shiploads of missionaries and school teachers still go, 
moving west, that in the Philippines and all the islands of the sea, as 
well as in China and Japan, they may sow the seed of a nobler life. 
It has been a long and unbroken procession, setting out from the older 
East to the newer West in the spirit of moral adventure. 

A splendid share of this idealism went into the early life of Cali- 
fornia. We find all about us abundant evidence of the venture and 
heroism of faith. Spanish missionaries, following in the wake of the 
conquest by Cortes, crossed over to Mexico, and then finding their way 
up through Lower California, planted their preaching stations in all 
the valleys that lie along the sea. San Diego and San Gabriel, Santa 
Barbara and San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Jose, and San Francisco 
— these are the enduring monuments of their early efforts; and they 
went still farther on until they reached Sonoma, where the movement 
paused. They taught the Indians to think and to work and to pray. 
They practiced a beautiful, unealculating hospitality. They gave char- 
acter to that mission architecture which is a distinctive feature of the 
State. 

And in those early times another world power, Russia, sent hither 
its missionaries, representing the Greek church. They came, not from 
the South or from sunny Spain, but from the frozen regions of the 
North, crossing at Behring's Strait, planting the standards of their 
faith in Alaska and continuing as far south as Fort Ross, which stands 
also in Sonoma County. And even as the "Sans" and "Santas" of 
Southern California testify to the work of the Spanish missionaries 
from the Latin church; even as the names of "Alhambra" and 
"Alviso," "Alvarado" and "Alameda," point back still farther to 



MORAL AND RELIGIOUS LIFE IN CALIFORNIA. 127 

the time when the Moors crossed into Spain, bringing the Arabic "Al" 
with them, to be carried in turn by those Spaniards to the New World ; 
so the names yonder in Sonoma County, "Russian River" and 
" Sebastopol, " "St. Helena" and all the rest, speak of the presence of 
Russian missionaries from the Greek church. 

But into the moral life of this mighty State God meant that Saxon 
ideals and Protestant principles should also enter. Across the plains 
and around the Horn came a great company of devoted men and women 
to found schools and build churches which should minister in still other 
ways to the higher life of this rapidly growing commonwealth. "We 
find, therefore, to-day, as a result of these varied efforts, all the well- 
known religious bodies well represented in California by able ministers 
and prosperous churches, which furnish moral leadership to the com- 
munities where they stand. 

There has been a mistaken impression in certain quarters that moral 
conditions in California in the days of the pioneers were especially 
wild and lawless. The country was new, indeed, and the discovery of 
gold brought adventurers as well as sturdy and useful types of Ameri- 
can life. The atmosphere was one to develop that courage and self- 
reliance which sometimes forget the respect due to order and system. 
In some of the early settlements and mining camps it was, indeed, as in 
the days of the Judges: "In those days there was no king in Israel; 
every man did that which was right in his own eyes." The trip across 
the plains or the voyage " 'Round the Horn" had prompted the spirit 
of self-reliance until all hands were ready to face difficulty and danger 
with a jolly good humor which sometimes bordered on recklessness. 

But after all the necessary admissions are made, the moral sentiment 
of the dominant element among the pioneers was just and true. In 
the days when, owing to the preoccupation of the men of force and 
influence in rapid money-making, the administration of affairs at San 
Francisco had become too feeble and corrupt to be endured, there 
came the Vigilance Committee. It was in its personnel and in its 
methods of procedure as far removed as could be from the spirit of the 
mob. They were grave, determined men who saw that necessity was 
upon them to rebuke defiant wickedness in a way that could not be 
misunderstood, and to rid the community of a set of scoundrels which 
were a menace to all decency and honesty. The real leaders of the 
Vigilance Committee were, indeed, public surgeons, and they cut away 
with care and insight the cancerous growths which threatened the life 
of the body politic. The result was that there came a clearing of the 
air, a strengthening of the moral sanctions and an increase of that 
better sentiment which is for the health and security of any community. 

There are certain characteristics of the moral life of the State which 
are noticed at once by those who come to make their homes in California. 
The generosity of the people is warm and abundant. The spirit of 
those days when men gave freely and even recklessly because they were 
digging gold out of the foothills by the hatful, has been handed down 
to their successors. The people now respond readily and largely to the 
appeals of genuinely good causes. 

The evidence of this spirit is apparent in the various sections of the 
State. The generous thoughtfulness of one family alone on behalf of 
higher education for the youth of California and of the Greater West 



128 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

has given more than thirty millions of dollars for the rearing and 
endowing of Stanford University. When his son died and left him 
childless, Senator Stanford said, "The children of California shall be 
my children,", and the millions were placed where they would bless 
and enrich the lives of all the generations of aspiring young men and 
young women yet to come. In similar spirit James Lick devoted his 
great fortune to the creation of the Lick School of Applied Arts, of 
the famous Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton, where the clear 
skies of California give astronomers an almost unbroken opportunity 
for the study of the heavens, and of other well-known institutions 
which owe their existence to his generosity. 

The gift of other fortunes less notable, perhaps, but given in the 
same spirit of unselfishness, has reared for the people of the State a 
splendid array of hospitals and homes, galleries and libraries, schools 
and churches. In all the lines of activity which call for generosity and 
public spirit there are a great company of citizens here who have 
learned that "it is more blessed to give than to receive." 

The moral life of the State is also characterized by the spirit of 
freedom and tolerance. The members of religious bodies which observe 
as their sacred day another day in the week than that observed by the 
great majority of worshiping people find in California no statutes com- 
pelling action which their conscience does not approve and no legal 
prohibitions interfering with what is to them the pathway of duty. 
The aim of California has been to "render unto Ca j sar those things 
which are Caesar's" by legislating only in regard to those secular 
interests in which all stand alike before the law, and to leave to the 
free and untrammeled decision of the individual conscience those deeper, 
personal attitudes and relationships "which are God's." 

This absence of the puritanical habit of mind has sometimes been 
misinterpreted. The strong, natural, adventurous men who always rally 
on the frontiers are ever impatient of restraint — sometimes impatient 
of wholesome restraint. The outdoorness of our life; the fact that 
over wide areas people may, if they choose, go off upon picnics fifty-two 
Sundays in the year, has added to this spirit of freedom which may 
indeed be carried to excess. This manifest geniality of the climate and 
the inviting nature of the outdoor air have therefore had something to 
do with an irresponsible habit of mind. It is much easier to believe in 
the wrath of God against evil in Northampton than in Pasadena, espe- 
cially in the winter months. The absence of some of the rigors and 
terrors that have found place in the habits of mind belonging to serious 
people in other regions has not always been to our advantage. 

But even as religious people have found upon the whole that a 
separation of church and state, and the consequent commitment of all 
religious interests to the care of voluntary loyalty, have been for the 
advantage of both church and state, promoting a more resolute and 
less formal type of piety, so the air of freedom and the less conventional 
atmosphere touching matters of ethics and religion in California have 
meant the development of a large class of men who, left to themselves, 
chose righteousness simply because it was right. The children of any 
republic must in the long run learn to be free without abusing their 
freedom; and in this large confidence that virtue will in the long run 



MORAL AND RELIGIOUS LIFE IN CALIFORNIA. 129 

furnish its own effective sanctions California has sought to build her 
moral life. . "She has shown her faith in the power of noble ideas by 
simply setting before them an open door." 

The religious life of the State is characterized as well by its mis- 
sionary zeal. The churches which are here are the results of missionary 
gifts and enterprise on the part of others in the early history of the 
land, and the heirs of this gracious legacy are resolved to hand on the 
inheritance, not diminished, but increased. The readiness of the various 
congregations to respond to appeals for contributions to advance 
religious work in the lumber camps and mining towns, in the lonely 
villages and the sparsely settled regions, is proverbial. The mountains 
and the arid regions which cut us off from immediate contact with the 
rest of the country but serve to strengthen the feeling of fellowship 
.and brotherhood among Californians; and the interest of the cities in 
the country, of the older communities in the newer, promotes this warm 
and sympathetic missionary interest which aids steadily in the further- 
ance of righteousness. 

The situation of California, fronting on the Pacific and looking across 
toward great populations yet to be inspired by higher ideals than those 
furnished by their own ruder faiths, acts also as a stimulus to foreign 
missionary enterprise. The prevailing sentiment is that the whole Pacific 
coast has come to a sublime period in its history. The oldest homes of 
civilization were inland. In the valleys of the Euphrates and of the 
Nile the children of men built their early cities, planting their homes 
along the great rivers. But as the strength and the ambition of the 
race were enlarged the seats of civilization were transferred to the 
greater body of water, when Tyre and Corinth, Rome and Constanti- 
nople, became the nerve centers of the world's enlarging life around 
the Mediterranean. But civilization grew apace until it removed to the 
borders of the still greater Atlantic — London and Liverpool, Hamburg 
and New York, became centers of influence and power. But to-day, as 
never before, the interest of the world is upon and around that greatest 
of all the oceans, and wise men in the political and commercial councils 
of the world are saying that the Pacific will be the future theater of 
the world's most important events. It becomes, therefore, of vital 
importance that our nation should face that ocean with the spiritual 
frontage of a robust, intelligent and devoted religious life. This obliga- 
tion is deeply felt, and it is being met in a generous expression of 
missionary interest on the part of all the religious bodies in California. 

The presence of such a large proportion of men in all the churches 
is remarked by those who visit California. David Starr Jordan of 
Stanford University has called California ' ' one of earth 's male hands. ' ' 
accepting Browning's designation of certain regions which call peremp- 
torily for the masculine virtues. "The first Saxon settlers," he says, 
"were men, and in their rude civilization women had no part. For 
years women in California were objects of curiosity or of chivalry, dis- 
turbing rather than cementing influences in society. Even yet Cali- 
fornia is essentially a man's state. What we commonly call public 
opinion — the cut-and-dried decision on social and civic questions — is 
made up in the home. It is essentially feminine in its origin, the 
opinion of the home circle as to how men should behave. In California 
9 



130 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

there is little of this convention and tradition, for, speaking broadly, in 
California the virtues of life spring from within and are not pre- 
scribed from without. In short, California is a man's land, with male 
standards of action — a land where one must give and take, stand or 
fall, as a man." 

The very predominance of the masculine element in the life of this 
younger of the states in the Republic has done much to emphasize the 
responsibility of the man in matters of religion. There is among us a 
smaller percentage of men who hold their religion in their wives' 
names. The mother of Zebedee's children is less often compelled to 
go alone to offer petitions and prayers on behalf of her sons while 
Zebedee is away fishing. The presence of this large number of men 
in the various congregations of the state. tends to make the preaching 
direct and practical; it aids in keeping religion free from unwholesome, 
mysticism or empty sentiment. 

The presence of a larger percentage of criminals than is found in 
some of the older states is sometimes cited to California's disadvantage. 
If we had only the criminals of our own raising we would be ready to 
stand comparison with the best states of the Union. But, as all students 
of sociology know, the criminals, the tramps, the ne'er-do-wells of other 
states are constantly fleeing to the West to escape detection or in the 
hope of finding an easier field for exploitation. They move on until 
they reach the Pacific Ocean, and then, unable either to cross it or to 
effect a return to the abandoned fields in the East, they heap up like 
drifting sand and dirt upon our borders. The accumulation, therefore, 
of those who have gone West, not to grow up with the country, but to 
escape disaster which they had brought upon themselves in other states, 
accounts in large degree for the greater proportion of the criminal 
element on the western border of our country. 

It would not be of general interest to give here tabulated statistics 
touching the value of church property in California, the number of 
communicants, the wide range of benevolent activity to be found in 
all the religious bodies. If space permitted the introduction of such 
figures, California would make a splendid showing. The growing appre- 
ciation on the part of the people as a whole touching the wholesome 
moral influence exerted and the humane service rendered by the 
churches is indicated by the fact that four years ago the people, by a 
handsome majority, adopted an amendment to the constitution exempt- 
ing from taxation all church property used exclusively for religious 
worship, thus bringing California into line with the other states of the 
Union. The influence of this action is seen already in the erection of 
more permanent, costly and beautiful structures as places of worship 
in all the cities of the State. 

It might seem invidious to name any and not name all the religious 
organizations at work in California, but certain facts seem especially 
worthy of notice. Some of the largest and best appointed schools and 
convents, hospitals and homes of the Roman Catholic Church in America 
are to be found in California, for, from the days of the Spanish grants 
to the early missionaries of that faith, this church has enjoyed great 
prosperity. The fourth largest Congregational Church in the United 
States is located in Oakland, California, and one of the largest Presby- 



MORAL AND RELIGIOUS LIFE IN CALIFORNIA. 131 

terian churches in the country is in Los Angeles. The maintenance of 
their historic forms of worship in the well-appointed synagogues of all 
the larger cities and the kindly service of their well-organized and far- 
reaching charities, testify alike to the prosperity of the many Hebrew 
congregations. The noble traditions of the Episcopal Church, the glow- 
ing zeal of the Methodists, the missionary earnestness of the Baptists, 
the robust faith of the Lutherans, the evangelistic activity of the 
Christians, as well as the characteristic notes of religious life in the 
many other bodies at work within the State, all find expression in the 
flourishing societies which bear these various names and labor together 
in loyal harmony for the triumph of righteousness and peace in a land 
beautiful in climate and situation, and growing daily more beautiful in 
its deeper, inner life. 

The splendid showing made by the religious forces of this common- 
wealth is the more remarkable when one reflects upon the fact that 
California is essentially a new country. We need only turn back fifty 
years to find a situation just beginning to be touched by those forces 
which make for the permanent prosperity and well-being of any state. 
If one should stand with uncovered head at Plymouth Rock in the old 
commonwealth of Massachusetts, or reverently tread the soil of James- 
town, Virginia, the story of California's briefer life would seem like a 
watch in the night or as yesterday when it is past. The paint and the 
varnish are scarcely dry on much of the work which contributes to the 
welfare of the people. 

Yet religion is naturally a plant of slow growth ; it is one of the con- 
servative forces of society and does not leap into its full strength 
in a night as do some of its rival influences. Its gentler virtues do not 
thrive in the bustling atmosphere of a gold excitement or a real estate 
boom. It accomplishes its work best where it quietly becomes incor- 
porated in the institutions and habits, in the sentiments and affections 
of a people, and thus comes to its own appointed fruitage in a nobler, 
purer and more humane life. All this requires time; and religion has 
not yet come fully into its own here in California, because of the brief 
period covered by the history of the State. 

The Lord of all the values there are began a long time ago, even 
before the building of Solomon's Temple, in order that He might have 
the great sequoias of the Sierra ready for our coming. In the far distant 
past He sowed the seeds of those splendid forests which adorn the hill- 
sides in Mariposa and Calaveras. In similar fashion, the many people 
now intent upon the higher life of California are to-day sowing in 
fidelity and love the seeds of that mature, well-developed and effective 
Christian civilization which in spirit and moral quality shall match the 
glorious climate and the wonderful resources of this fair State. And 
this noble result shall not be alone for our security and well-being — it 
will be for the healing of the nations. The gateway of the West is a 
"Golden Gate" — through it comas in the commerce from the Orient that 
shall make the nation rich, and out of it shall go those wholesome 
influences which, as missionaries of the Lord, are to enrich the lands 
beyond the sea with values that perish not. 



]32 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS. RESOURCES, ETC. 



OUTDOOR LIFE OF CALIFORNIA. 



By WILLIAM GREER HARRISON. 



We live in our lungs; therefore, anything that improves our abode 
is of importance. The question naturally arises. "What is the best 
method of increasing lung power?" The answer is, "Deep breathing 
of pure air." In other words, the continuous exercise of the lungs in 
inhaling clean air and exhaling impure air. Exercise in the open is 
the way of enlarging the breathing capacity of the lungs. 

Throughout California the conditions of climate are such that lung 
exercise may be indulged in at all times without risk to any organ. 
The temperature of the lungs is never oppressive ; no blizzards, no 
cutting winds, no stabbing of the lungs by frozen air : a genial, balmy, 
yet exhilarating atmosphere everywhere. San Francisco has a mean 
temperature of 65 degrees. The temperature throughout the State 
makes a mean of about 60 degrees. In the interior the air is so dry that 
at a summer temperature of 100 degrees, outdoor sports, tramps and 
mountain climbing are as freely indulged in as in the autumn. In mid- 
winter, outdoor amusements, such as long-distance tramps, shooting, 
fishing, and swimming, are enthusiastically pursued. For years it has 
been the custom for the writer to lead a large number of Olympic Club 
members, on Christmas and New Year's days, over a fifteen-mile tramp 
right into the Pacific Ocean, where the party breasts the breakers, plays 
leapfrog on the shore, and gambols and scampers like lads of ten, and 
not a man catching cold. All over California there is in the air an 
electrical stimulant which is most bracing and which does away with 
that tired feeling so common elsewhere. 

Then we have the pines, the aroma from which is almost an intoxi- 
cant and is the most subtle and effective of lung tonics. 

We have the redwoods; giants, grand, stately towers in the forest. 
The exhalation from these acts upon the lungs as a light massage and 
emollient. 

We have rivers and mountains, lakes and valleys, not exceeded in 
natural beauty anywhere. 

We have pine-clad and brush-clad hills to clamber through, which 
is a joy without limit. The pleasure in hill-climbing is increased always 
by the beauty of the landscape, the rivers or the ocean, with islands, 
points, promontories and straits which fill the eye everywhere and yield 
;i sense of enjoyment found only in the use of the eye and the muscles. 

California is a land of brown shadows and blue skies — the brown of 
the hillside, the blue of the ocean and its reflection in the sky, produce 
unpainted pictures in lavish abundance. Wild flowers — unwritten 
poems — greet you everywhere. Waterfalls, the joy tears of the moun- 
tain sprites; cascades, in whose music you hear the weeping of wood 
nymphs over dead forest kings. The bubbling, babbling brooks, inter- 
preting the song of their silver-coated citizens; the cooing of the dove, 
the whir of the quail, the whiz of the snipe, the honking of the wild 



OUTDOOR LIFE OF CALIFORNIA. 133 

goose, and the frou-frou of the duck — all these are for the man who 
loves nature and desires to be at home with her, and are common every- 
where in California. 

Here the sportsman finds his paradise, and here are — 

Birds: Mountain and valley quail, English jaeksnipe, wild pigeon, 
blue grouse, sage hen, robin (big, full-bodied birds), meadow lark, 
curlew, black ibis, billhead plover, vacet, willet (snipe), king rail, Vir- 
ginian rail, reed bird, robin snipe, sandpiper. 

Ducks : Widgeon, teal, sprig, gadwell, canvasback, redhead, butter- 
ball, ruddy, blue-bill, Mexican tree duck, brownhead or whistler, mal- 
lard, spoonbill. 

Big game: Brown or cinnamon bear, black bear, elk, mule deer, 
blacktail deer, silver-gray fox, red fox, California lion (puma). 

Small game: Gray squirrel, pine squirrel; rabbit — cottontail, brush 
and hare; beaver and ground-hog. 

Fish: Salmon — landlocked, quinnat, blue back, hookbill; trout — rain- 
bow, cut-throat, red speckled, brook. Loch Levin, Von Behr; rock cod — 
blue and red ; flounders, tomeod, smelt, halibut, barracuda, striped bass ; 
perch — redtail, surf and big-eye; sole, white bait, pompano (butterfish), 
sturgeon, shad, anchovies, sardines. 

Fish, birds, big game and small game can be reached easily by short- 
rail routes; and then comes the true pleasure of the sport — the climb- 
ing, clambering, tramping; the oxidation of the lungs and muscles; 
the joy, the pure physical joy, of movement ; the luxury that follows 
the overcoming of difficulties ; the scramble over big rocks; the climb 
over hills carpeted with pine needles, and the enthralling sense of 
victory when the objective point is reached. 

Alone in the woods — alone with God! Alone on the mountain top, 
you are reverent and prayerful, but never sad or depressed. Breathing 
in the pure mountain air, you breathe in hope, inspiration, and you 
would commune with the Master of the World, and rejoice that you live 
and move and find harmony in your heart. You can throw your cap 
peakward and shout like the schoolboy out for his holiday; for you have 
drawn away from and mounted high above the pettiness of the lesser 
life. You have shuffled off the business coil which bound you to your 
desk; you are free, and the thought of freedom is yours; and you arc 
buoyant and gleeful and in love with all the world. 

California is the home of the artist; indeed. California is another 
Italy, and a new Virgil would write the Bucolics and Georgics as of 
and about the Italia of the Pacific. Virgilian description of the old 
Italy exactly fits the newer and richer state. But we have color effects 
here not known, I think, even in Italy. Take the hills overlooking San 
Francisco — Marin hills — and you have a bronze-brown effect in color 
that is tantalizingly beautiful, because you want to catch and hold it 
as a something too exquisite to be left to itself. You have an infinite 
variety of shadings to this weird brown ; indeed, there is a kaleidoscopic 
change, from second to second, which is literally fascinating. 

Then our sunsets ; in them there is a supreme beauty, since all colors, 
all shades — dazzling, rioting, perplexing — mingle with or are a part 
of the rays which glorify the sky, the hills, the valleys, the seas, the 
ocean, with a light that is as the smile of the Eternal. Here is the 



134 



CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



place in which to breathe the sunshine. Light and colors are inhaled, 
and it is time some one explained the beneficent effect of the inhalation 
on the blood and brain and moral nature of man. California is the 
solarium of the world. "When the sun throws aside the robes of night 
and breathes his morning benediction, until his evening prayer, when 
his lingering blessing touches everything with his kiss, there is a 
golden dusk or a sun-charged atmosphere in which man may drink a 
newer, richer draught of life. 

And the ocean, the Pacific; never monotonously peaceful; just a vast 
champagne bath, a universal salt glow, where massage is free to all the 
world. Always open, never a bar to ingress ; no ice, no snow ; a storm 
only momentary and joyous excitement. The roar of the breakers 




A NEW YEAR'S SURF-BATHING PARTY IN PACIFIC OCEAN, NEAR 
CLIFF HOUSE, SAN FRANCISCO. 



an organ peal, the swell a flowing song, the spume an electric bath. 
Summer or winter, never a day when you can not safely enter the 
Pacific, plunging and swimming, breasting breakers or high waves, with 
a feeling of victorious pleasure and a sense of fitness that is a promise 
of eternal youth. 

From San Francisco to San Diego and thence to Catalina Island 
there are bays, inlets, roadsteads, where foaming steeds, white horses 
of the sea, rush madly to the shore. Here the strong swimmer finds 
joy inexpressible. Dashing under the swirling breakers he floats 
triumphantly for a moment in the long hollows of the ocean, and then 
with an increasing vigor again and again evades the rush of waters 
and with practiced arms steers his way to the sea incarnadine that lies 
like another sky bevond the breakers. Here, summer or winter, he 



136 



CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



flings aside the resisting waters and heads oceanward — a long, steady 
pressure, an overhead stroke or a side stroke carries him far from view, 
until presently he turns shoreward with rapid strokes when he once 
more margins the breakers. These he uses like a circus rider, and. 
mounts horse after horse until he is once more on the shore lines. The 
strength of it, the joy of it, only the swimmer can feel. 

And all this in winter as safely as in summer. Indeed, it is absurd 
to talk of winter in the Golden State. All days are open to the athlete 
and his pleasures. 

If you tire of the old ocean, then turn your eyes lakeward. Tahoe 
sits in the Sierra like a great golden-gray bowl, full of limpid water 
teeming with silver-coated trout; guarded by mountain ranges so weird 




A CHRISTMAS SWIMMING PARTY AT ALAMEDA. 



in form and in color that one naturally looks for the gnomes, elfs, 
goblins, which have, or ought to have, their homes in the curious crev- 
ices, caverns, brakes, peaks, domes, curves, and bends which make of 
Mount Tallac and his kin a giant's causeway leading to a land of 
delight, Tahoe is 6,000 feet above the sea level ; Mount Tallac is 3,000 
odd feet above the lake, and from its rugged peak you look down upon 
a score of lakes set like precious gems in a setting of emerald green. 
The tramp to Tallac 's gray top is just rough enough to give an added 
interest; it is a stiff climb, but when the peak is under your feet you 
forget everything except the glory and the joy of the vista. 

You tire of the lake scenery? Then off to the McCloud River for 
trout, or to Monterey Bay for salmon trolling, or the Sacramento for 
perch and salmon. Oh, I could name you hundreds of places in which 
to be glad that God made you ! 



OUTDOOR LIFE OF CALIFORNIA. 137 

Once a year, usually in the month of August, members of the Bohe- 
mian Club of San Francisco shake the city dust from their feet and 
for three weeks make their home in the heart of a redwood forest. 
" 'Neath the green sentinels, whose feathery plumes sweep the patines 
of Heaven," they pitch their tents and abandon themselves to a life 
that is in harmony with Nature. The fisherman fishes and the pedes- 
trian makes his ten or fifteen miles daily, whilst others lie prone on 
the bosom of Mother Earth, breathing in the forest air with a sense of 
pure enjoyment. The singer and the story-teller weave fancies that 
find expression in music and literature and painting. Others group 
themselves in nooks and hollows and wonder what the giant trees could 
tell if only Nature enabled them to reveal their knowledge. These trees 
were above ground long before the Babylonian empire fell. They were 
lofty pillars of the forest when Joseph went down into Egypt, and 
they were probably full grown when Christ was taken by another 
Joseph to the land of Pharaohs. Europe was the home of barbarous 
tribes when these felt their full growth; and civilization after civiliza- 
tion appeared, fulfilled its destiny and was succeeded by new thoughts, 
new purposes, these to make room for the dominant purpose of to-day. 
Yet these trees lived and breathed ere England or America had a name 
or a place upon the map of the world. 

California is the only country in the world, I think, where mid- 
summer is entirely free of rain and where it would be possible to spend 
three or four weeks absolutely in the open. 

Polo, football, baseball and tennis are playable all the year through ; 
and golf, lacrosse and cricket are only temporarily retarded by the 
degree of wet in the soil after our annual shower bath. Thousands of 
our young lads and lasses pay no attention to rain, but pursue their 
walks in wet weather as in dry. Indeed, few outdoor pursuits are 
affected by our wet season. We have usually three or four days' rain, 
followed by a fortnight of the most delightful weather — clear, bright, 
sunful days when one rejoices in life. 

In the bay counties we have sea fogs, which are of infinite service to 
all growing things, and are to many a source of pleasure in their effect 
upon the skin. 

But the great charm of California is that always and everywhere 
you can live in the open, except in the brief interval when rain is most 
abundant. 

Fullness of days, rather than length, is the desideratum. A weak 
man is a travesty on Nature. Better fifty years of strenuous, full life 
than one hundred years of vegetable existence. But in California long- 
life and full days go together. In the free, open life of the Golden 
State there is no excuse for lack of health ; only the inherently indolent 
suffer. All who accept the treasures of the air, the sea, the forest, and 
the ocean as their own put on the full garb of man and woman and live 
such a full life as can be lived only in California. 

The joy of living; the rapid-coursing, life-making blood; the clean, 
full lungs; the buoyancy of youth in middle-aged man — these are ours, 
and we thank God for life ! 



138 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

OLYMPIANS HAVE NO FEAR OF CHILLS. 

[From the San Francisco Chronicle, December 30, 1908.] 

The continued cold weather has not placed any clamp on the rapidly 
increasing list of names of Olympians who intend taking a dip in the 
surf at the ocean beach on New Year 's morning. Up to yesterday after- 
noon over two hundred members of the winged organization had signi- 
fied their intention of being at the starting point on the first day of the 
year, and, judging from the interest in the outing, the affair will sur- 
pass all previous tramps held under the auspices of the Olympic Club. 

At nine o'clock the start will be made from the club house on Post 
street, from which point the party will be conveyed in special cars of 
the United Railroads to the entrance of the Park at Fell and Baker 
streets. The start from the latter place will be made at ten o'clock, a 
comfortable pace to be maintained so that the older members of the 
club as well as the more strenuously inclined will be able to reach the 
end of the trip at the same time. Shower baths have been provided for 
those who may not desire to brave the waters of the ocean, and break- 
fast in the open will be the all-important event after the bath. George 
H. James, who has charge of this event, states that all those who desire 
a change of clothes after the walk can have the same conveyed to the 
beach by leaving them at the club any time to-morrow. The return 
home will be made at the convenience of the members, although the 
cars will be at the disposal of the club at an appointed time. 



CALIFORNIA'S RESORTS. 



By W. N. WRIGHT. 



California is well known for its famous resorts, yet few strangers have 
any idea of the variety of health and pleasure resorts that are situated 
in her sunny valleys and beautiful mountains. The fame of California's 
magnificent hotels, fine beaches and equable climate has spread through- 
out the United States, but few know of the many charming little resorts 
nestling in shady nooks in the foothills or under the green roof of her 
forests, beside swiftly flowing trout streams. There are hot springs 
gushing water of the same chemical constituents and curative qualities 
that have made Carlsbad famous, and wild mountain canyons that rival 
the beauty and grandeur of the Alps. 

They are not advertised broadcast as are the larger resorts, and it 
is generally necessary that you come to California before you discover 
them. Once you are here take up any guide to California and you can 
find hundreds of them scattered from one end of the State to the other, 
ideally situated, and all enjoying the same equable and rejuvenating 
climate. 

Mineral Springs — California possesses mineral springs which have 
proven of great value in relieving many ills. Most of these are in the 



CALIFORNIA S RESORTS. 



139 



foothills, where the air is exceptionally dry and tonic. They consist 
of the usual sulphur, iron, saline, and alkaline springs, and the water 
of some of them is of very high temperature. 

El Paso de Robles Hot Springs, at Paso Robles, on the Coast line of 
the Southern Pacific, are perhaps the most famous hot springs in the 
State. Analysis shows the chemical elements of the springs to be in 
about the same proportion as those of the most famous hot springs of 
Europe and America. They are sulphurous and alkaline, and vary in 
temperature from 60 degrees to 122 degrees Fahrenheit, and have 
proven of great merit in the treatment of rheumatic, blood, glandular, 




PASO ROBLES HOT SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA. 



and cutaneous affections ; in kidney and bladder irritations ; in catarrhal 
and other troubles of the mucous membranes ; in anemia, malarial 
poisoning, and the nervous disorders requiring the tonic effect of water 
treatment. 

But Paso Robles is by no means a place for invalids exclusively. It 
is just as popular for recreation seekers, for tourists, travelers and busi- 
ness men seeking rest, and tired people getting back their nerve force. 

The combination of the hot springs, hotel, and bath-house; the climate 
and the pleasing surrounding country make this institution one of the 
most complete and popular of its kind in any country. 

Near Paso Robles Hot Springs are the Santa Ysabel Hot Springs, the 
waters of which have been shown to be very similar to the famous 
Arkansas Springs at Little Rock. 



140 



CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



Seven miles from San Luis Obispo, also on the Coast line, are the 
San Luis Obispo Hot Springs. They are situated in a beautiful valley, 
only one mile from the ocean beach. The temperature of the water is 
110 degrees Fahrenheit and its volume 200,000 gallons every twenty- 
four hours. 

The Santa Barbara and Montecito Hot Springs in the Santa Ynez 
Mountains, a short distance from Santa Barbara, resemble the Hot 
Springs in Arkansas. As the water is sulphuric and antacid it is a 
great help for those afflicted with acid conditions of the blood and 
urine, or troubled with Bright 's disease. 







THE BEACH, SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA. 

The Matilija Hot Springs is Ventura County's chief outing resort. 
They are situated in a pleasant mountain canyon six miles from Nord- 
hoff on a branch of the Southern Pacific. On the banks of a good trout 
stream is a charming hotel, while grouped around it are many small 
cottages and tents for campers. A large swimming tank is one of the 
prominent features of the Springs. 

Carlsbad, just north of San Diego, is named after the famous springs 
of Germany. The Temecula Hot Springs are also located in San Diego 
County, and are well-known in the southern part of the State. 

Arrowhead Hot Springs, situated in San Bernardino County in the 
Sierra Madre Range at an elevation of nearly 2,000 feet, are the hottest 
curative springs in the world. The temperature of the water is 196 
degrees Fahrenheit, and its flow is half a million gallons per day. 




MOUNT LOWE RAILROAD. 



142 



CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



There are thirty-four different springs which vary widely in the degree 
of their chemical constituents. The hotel is a magnificent building, and 
the bath-house is equipped with baths for every form of modern hydro- 
therapy. The mud baths are a feature of Arrowhead, and upon them 
its fame in the past has been largely built. The waters are best adapted 
for relief from rheumatism, gout, dyspepsia, early stages of heart dis- 
ease, incipient Bright 's disease and disturbances of the bladder. Par- 
alysis and paresis, together with locomotor ataxia, are often given relief. 
Paraiso Springs, one hour's ride from Soledad, on the Coast line of 
the Southern Pacific, has excellent arsenic, soda and sulphur springs. 



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HOTEL POTTER FROM THE PLAZA. SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA. 



Gilroy Hot Springs, in the Santa Clara Mountains, thirteen miles 
east of Gilroy, are among the best known in the State. The water is 
used for rheumatic affections, skin eruptions, and blood disorders. 

Byron Hot Springs, in Contra Costa County, two hours' ride from 
San Francisco, is a favorite resort. There are several springs, and the 
water is used internally or as baths for various ills. The hotel is 
spacious, and the grounds exceedingly attractive. 

Sonoma County, north of San Francisco, has a wealth of mineral 
springs that are very popular, among which are Agua Caliente, Mark 
West Springs, Skaggs Hot Springs, and the Geysers. 

Shasta Soda Springs, situated in the picturesque canyon of the Upper 
Sacramento Eiver, on the Shasta route of the Southern Pacific, is an 
attractive mountain resort. It is here that the famous Shasta water is 
bottled. 



California's resorts. 



143 



Mtna, Springs, in Napa County, is a delightful resort, There is no 
large hotel, cottage like being one of its peculiar charms. There are 
mineral water baths and a large swimming tank, while radiating in 
every direction are excellent roads for walking, driving, riding or auto- 
mobiling. iEtna mineral water possesses marked aperient properties, 
and is almost a specific for dyspepsia and kindred disorders. Large 
quantities of JEtna water are bottled at the springs and shipped to all 
parts of the world. 

The High Sierra of California, extending from Mount Shasta in the 




CALIFORNIA — A WINTER PLAYGROUND. 



north to Mount Whitney in the south, is without doubt the most beau- 
tiful and interesting mountain range in the United States. Four hun- 
dred and fifty miles of snow-capped peaks, vast canyons, wild gorges, 
rushing rivers and forested slope — truly it is a rememberance dear to 
the hearts of those who have followed its trails and explored this won- 
derful country where the deeds of man fade into insignificance before 
the marvelous wonders Nature has accomplished. Pack trips can be 
made to Kings River Canyon; the Grand Canyons of the Kern and 
Tuolumne rivers ; the Giant Forest, where grow the largest and tallest 



144 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

trees in the world, and to Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in 
the United States (14,898 feet). 

The new Yosemite Valley Railroad goes within twelve miles of the 
famous Yosemite Valley, with its gigantic peaks and five big waterfalls. 
Daily stages meet the trains, and there are excellent accommodations in 
the valley in the way of hotels and camps. 

Lake Tahoe, a beautiful mountain lake twenty-three miles long by 
thirteen miles wide, and 6,240 feet above the sea level, is fifteen miles 
by railway from Truckee, on the Ogden route of the Southern Pacific. 
Walled in by high peaks, it is one of the most picturesque spots of the 
Sierras. Around its pine covered shores have been built many fine 
hotels and summer residences. 

Within an hour's ride from Los Angeles are a number of fine beaches 
where surf bathing may be enjoyed every day in the year. In addition 
to the fine hotels which these beaches support, there are many small 
cottages to be had for those who desire to remain any length of time. 

Venice, with its lagoons and gondolas, arching bridges over winding 
canals, restaurants in ancient galleons, hotels of Venetian architecture, 
great auditorium and music, is a remarkable copy of the Venice of the 
Old World. Here under a sky as blue as that of the Adriatic one can 
easily imagine he has been transported to the home of the Doges. 

From Venice there extends along the beach a broad promenade to 
Ocean Park, one mile away. The latter place possesses an attractive 
pavilion that is equipped with every device known in the amusement 
world for driving dull care away. Other well-known beaches are Santa 
Monica, Long Beach, and Huntington. 

A delightful ocean trip of two hours takes one to Catalina Island, the 
home of the leaping tuna, the hardest fighting fish in the world. There 
is an excellent beach, and the island is a favorite resort. 

One hundred miles up the coast from Los Angeles is Santa Barbara, 
a world renowned coast resort, which claims to have the most perfect 
climate in the world. It is the winter home of many wealthy Eastern- 
ers, and boating, bathing, tennis, golf and other outdoor sports can be 
enjoyed every day in the year. 

Further north is Santa Cruz, with a new Casino, electric pier, plunge 
baths and unexcelled beach, and only a short distance from a fine grove 
of the big trees. Nearby is Del Monte, in some ways the best known 
resort in America. Capitola and Pacific Grove in the same vicinity also 
have excellent beaches. 

Although San Francisco can not be classed as a resort city, never- 
theless there are many places of interest and sights worth seeing in and 
about the city, or across the bay in the cities of Oakland, Berkeley and 
Alameda, and down the peninsula towards Stanford University and 
San Jose. 

The bay cities have a cool, invigorating climate which is preferred 
by many to the more tropical climate of the southern part of the State. 
The temperature varies so little, however, that semi-tropical flowers 
grow in profusion and the same outdoor life may be enjoyed. In fact, 
the whole State is one bright garden of nature, molded into sunny 
valleys, green hills and snow-covered peaks, with an equable and tonic 
climate, and possessing mineral springs to cure the ill, and sufficient 
other attractions to make it a Mecca for pilgrims after health and 
happiness. 



TRAVELING IN CALIFORNIA. 145 



TRAVELING IN CALIFORNIA. 



By W. N. WRIGHT. 



Traveling in California no longer means trying experiences with stage 
coach aud poor hotels. In their place have appeared luxurious trains, 
speeding over fertile valleys, through wild and picturesque canyons, 
by snow-covered mountains, and stopping at famous resorts where 
the hotels approach as nearly as possible the tourist's ideal. Every 
convenience known to twentieth century travelers will be found on the 
trains of the three great railroads which enter California from the 
East — the Southern Pacific, Santa Fe, and San Pedro, Los Angeles and 
Salt Lake. 

In addition to these, there are thirty-three smaller railroads which 
extend through different parts of the State, and a trip on some of them 
has unique and interesting features. 

Although California has only two per cent of the population of the 
United States, it already has three per cent of the country's railroad 
mileage. California is the second largest State in the Union. It is 
larger than the combined areas of New York, New Jersey, Vermont, 
Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Ohio, and Massachusetts, and 
there are but two counties in the State that are not tapped by some por- 
tion of the 7,300 miles of steam railroads that the State contains. The 
advent of the Western Pacific during the current year will add materi- 
ally to the mileage of the State, and open a new route to the East. The 
electralization of roads has received much attention recently, and Cali- 
fornia now has over 1,700 miles of electric railroads, with many more 
miles projected. 

The Southern Pacific operates 3,742 miles in the State, and enters by 
three different routes. The Sunset Route from New Orleans carries one 
through the Great Southwest by way of El Paso, Texas, Tucson and 
Yuma, Arizona, to the wonderful fruit and flower garden around Los 
Angeles. The Ogden Route crosses the famous Lucin Cut-off over 
Great Salt Lake, climbs the high Sierra, and gives the tourist many 
glimpses of beautiful mountain lakes and snow-clad ranges. On this 
route is Truckee, where change is made to visit majestic Lake Tahoe. 
The Shasta Route comes in from the north by way of Portland, Oregon. 
crosses the Siskiyou Mountains, passes Mount Shasta, winds down the 
wooded canyons of the Sacramento River, and at the head of the Sacra- 
mento Valley branches into two lines, one going west and the other east 
of the river through rich agricultural sections, and both joining the 
Ogden Route at Davis and Roseville, respectively. 

At Benicia all trains that come over the Ogden and Shasta routes 
are ferried across the Straits of Carquinez on the "Solano," the largest 
ferryboat in the world, having four double tracks, and capable of carry- 
ing two large passenger trains at once. At Oakland all passengers for 
San Francisco coming by either the Shasta or Ogden routes are ferried 
.across' the bay of San Francisco. The Dumbarton Cut-off, which is 
10 



146 



CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



being constructed across the lower end of the bay, will do away with the 
ferry, and all trains will run direct to San Francisco. 

The Shasta Route with its continuation, "The Coast Line," from San 
Francisco to Los Angeles, has been fittingly styled "The Road of a 
Thousand Wonders," and is one of the most interesting and beautiful 
scenic roads of the world. The Coast line leaves San Francisco by the 
new Bay Shore Cut-off and runs down the coast, following closely the 
line of famous old missions built by the padres who came from Spain 
and Mexico in the eighteenth century. From Oakland a line runs 
down the east side of the bay to San Jose, and thence to Santa Cruz. 
At San Jose connection is made with the Coast line. 

Along the Coast line and its branches are found many of California's 




FERRYBOAT SOLANO — LARGEST IN THE WORLD. 



show places and famous resorts, such as Stanford University, the old 
Missions, Hotel Del Monte, San Jose, Santa Cruz, Paso Robles Hot 
Springs Hotel, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara. For many miles 
the track runs along the high bluffs that face the ocean, following 
closely the contour of the coast, and presenting a magnificent view of the 
broad expanse of the blue Pacific and the great breakers dashing on the 
rocks far below. 

From San Francisco the Southern Pacific has two lines which run 
down the fertile San Joaquin Valley, through Fresno, Bakersfield, and 
over the famous Tehachapi loop in the Tehachapi Mountains to Los 
Angeles. Branch lines extend to all the important towns and districts 
of the valley. The Yosemite Valley Railroad, which now goes to the 



TRAVELING IN CALIFORNIA. 



147 



very gateway of the valley and the Big Trees, connects with the South- 
ern Pacific and the Santa Fe at Merced. This is a very interesting trip 
of seventy-eight miles through the winding canyon of the Merced River. 

The Santa Fe enters the San Joaquin Valley from the south over the 
same track as the Southern Pacific, but branches off at Bakersfield and 
runs through the valley on two different tracks of its own, terminating 
at Point Richmond and Oakland. Passengers for San Francisco are 
transported across the bay on large ferryboats. 

The San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railway enters California 
from Salt Lake City, Utah, by a southern gateway, passing through the 
great orange belt, and using both the tracks of the Southern Pacific and 
the Santa Fe in reaching Los Angeles. 




NEW MOTOR CAR INSTALLED BY SOUTHERN PACIFIC ON BRANCH LINES. 



San Francisco being the principal city and port of California, all the 
railroad lines converge at this point, and it is easy to reach any part of 
the State from here. In addition to the lines already mentioned, 
several other railroads have San Francisco for a terminus. The North- 
western Pacific runs northerly from San Francisco through the beauti- 
ful hills and wooded canyons of Marin and Sonoma counties, where are 
situated some of California's most famous mineral springs and resorts. 

The Mount Tamalpais Scenic Railway, noted as "the crookedest rail- 
way in the world," is just across the bay from San Francisco, and con- 
nects with the Northwestern Pacific at Mill Valley. This is one of the 
most interesting pieces of railroad construction in existence. In a series 
of great loops the train climbs to an elevation of 2,300 feet, overlooking 



148 



CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



the city and bay of Sau Francisco, and affording a magnificent view of 
the Pacific Ocean. Similar to the Mount Tamalpais trip is the ride up 
Mount Lowe from Los Angeles. This mountain is ascended by electric 
railway and inclined cable to an elevation of 5,000 feet, giving an exten- 
sive view of Los Angeles and surrounding territory. 

The railways in the southern part of the State converge towards Los 
Angeles. The Sunset Route of the Southern Pacific, the Santa Fe, and 
the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake all enter California by way of 
Los Angeles. Leaving Los Angeles in the morning, a trip can be made 
on the N ' Inside Track Flyer" of the Southern Pacific through the orange 
and flower belt, visiting the cities of Ontario, Covina, Pomona, San Ber- 
nardino. Riverside, and Redlands, returning to Los Angeles the same 




AN OVERLAND TRAIN. 



day, and giving a very comprehensive idea of the charms of Southern 
California. 

The "kite-shaped track" of the Santa Fe takes one also through the 
heart of the orange belt and back to Los Angeles the same day. From 
Los Angeles the Santa Fe extends south along the coast to San Diego. 

Los Angeles is the center of a network of electric lines, which extend 
throughout the surrounding country, and it boasts of the finest electric 
suburban system in the world. Every few minutes fast electric trains 
leave a central station for the beaches and other points of interest. The 
Northern Electric is an important electric line which runs through the 
principal cities of the Sacramento Valley. It is constantly extending 
its lines, and will undoubtedly be of greater importance in the future. 
The San Jose & Los Gatos Interurban through the Santa Clara Valley 
affords excellent service through a rich farming section. 



TRAVELING IN CALIFORNIA 



149 



A unique feature of traveling in California is the system of gasoline 
motor cars inaugurated by the Southern Pacific. These cars are used 
for local traffic between important towns. They run on the tracks of the 
regular trains, and have proved entirely satisfactory for quick transpor- 
tation between local points. 

In the north of California there are but few railroads, and most of 
them are owned by big lumber companies. The Nevada, California & 
Oregon Railroad in the northern part of the State is perhaps the most 




ELECTRIC RAILWAY TO THE TOP OF MOUNT LOWE. 



important line besides those already mentioned. It enters California at 
Purdy, in Plumas County, and runs a hundred and sixty-four miles to 
Alturas, the county seat of Modoc County. 

From Weed, California, on the Shasta Route, the Southern Pacific is 
building a line through Butte Valley to Klamath Falls, Oregon, which 
is for the most part already completed. This line is to be extended to 
Crater Lake, Oregon, and will join the Shasta Route again in Oregon, 
opening up a rich agricultural territory, as well as adding some great 
scenic attractions. 

In addition to the building of this road, the Southern Pacific is con- 
structing from Mojave on the Sunset Route, a line running northeast to 



150 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

Owens Lake to connect with the Nevada & California Railway, which 
enters California in Mono County and runs down to Keeler in Owens 
Valley. 

Travel in California is not confined to land, however. The Sacra- 
mento and San Joaquin rivers, the great inland waterways of California, 
are navigable for many miles, and all sorts of craft loaded with grain, 
vegetables and fruit reach San Francisco from the interior valleys which 
they drain. At San Francisco one can board steamers that ply up and 
down the coast, going as far north as Cape Nome in Alaska, and south 
along the coast of South America. On the bay of San Francisco one 
can see ships carrying the flags of all nations, and the big liners of the 
Pacific Mail, the Oceanic, and the Occidental & Oriental steamship 
companies leave regularly for Hawaii, Japan, China, and the Philip- 
pines, while other ships go south to Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, and 
other islands in the South Seas. 

Thus, whether on land or sea, California offers to the traveler the best 
of everything in the way of traveling conveniences. As for variety of 
attractions and beautiful scenic routes, together with an enjoyable 
climate, there is no State in our broad country that surpasses it. 



THE THIRTY-FIRST STATE. 

By RUFUS P. JENNINGS. 
Chairman of the California Promotion Committee. 



History records instances innumerable of the tremendous effect acci- 
dental happenings have had on the trend of events. California owes 
much to chance. Chance it was which revealed to the startled eyes of 
James W. Marshall the golden glint in the stream of the Sierras, and 
more quickly than the "shot heard 'round the world" aroused the 
nations did the echo of the cry of "Gold" reverberate with increasing 
volume through the fastnesses of the Rockies, past the vast fields of the 
Middle West, beyond the centers of commerce of the East, and over the 
seas to foreign lands. All the world knows the response that was made 
to that cry. for the discovery of gold brought to California in an 
incredibly short time a people distinguished for their cosmopolitanism. 

January 24, 1848, the day on which California became the El Dorado 
in truth, is an epochal date in the development of the United States; 
it marks a turning point in the history of Pacific commerce. It was the 
natal day on which the seed was planted which sixty years later was to 
blossom forth, resplendent in its fruition, in the United Pacific States, 
the alliance for the common good of all of the seven western common- 
wealths. Measuring what is to come by what has gone before, on the 
centennial day, January 24, 1948, the Pacific front will loom formidably 
large in the nation's activities — a factor whose potency conservatism 
declines to even suggest. 

California ! To the United States it has been the "Open sesame" of 
the Arabian Nights. How inane seems the attempt to describe it. 



wwisjo 



f# 



152 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

Only to grasp wholly the majestic spirit that pervades and is infused 
through California's atmosphere were an accomplishment worthy of 
the most gifted pen. Let not the pessimist approach the theme, for it 
will destroy his self-satisfactory doctrines and force him to ally him- 
self to the opposite school of philosophy. Even more so, let not the too 
sanguine optimist start to draw the picture, for the very force of his 
enthusiasm will confound him by the immensity of the scope which the 
subject will give him. Resort must be made to the rigid reasonings of 
the impassive logician and to the unadorned recital of facts. 

Chance gave the first impetus to California's development, but it was 
due to something more that the thirty-first star was added to Old Glory 
on the njnth of September, 1850, when California assumed its place in 
the sovereignty of States. Nature exerted a beneficent influence, for it 
gave to California a climate which as long as poesy endures, will be a 
fountain of inspiration for him who would sing in enchanting verse. 
It gave to California a soil in which all the products of the temperate 
and semi-tropic — and some of the tropic — zones may find a habitat that 
will insure good crops. It gave to California a mineral wealth which 
has every year been pouring into the nation's coffers in an uninter- 
rupted stream many millions. It gave to California fertile valleys to be 
the homes of a prosperous people and destined to support many times 
the present population. It gave to California great rivers which carry 
to market the products of the interior and which make fertile the soil 
of the valley farms. It gave to California harbors unsurpassed, gate- 
ways of the Occident, in which the world's commerce may be accom- 
modated. And, in the last analysis. Nature gave to California, the 
California of romance, a scenic wonderland that, in its grandeur of 
mountain, of valley, and of seashore; in its snow-bedecked peaks and 
massive cliffs; in its wooded glades and bounding streams — in all its 
primeval realm is beyond compare. Out of the beaten paths to the 
rallying-points of nature lovers lie many yet-to-be-discovered retreats, 
known only to the more zealous seekers of sequestered corners where 
the master strokes that were wrought when California 's topography was 
fashioned still retain every semblance of primeval grandeur. Truly 
California adds much weight to the slogan that has gone forth: "See 
Europe if you will, but see America first." 

Since the beginning of the new century California has moved forward 
at an accelerating ratio. Features of its development have been the 
cutting up of the big ranchos and estates into small holdings; the exten- 
sion of diversified and intensive farming; the construction of irrigation 
systems ; the development of electric power through the utilization of the 
energy of mountain streams; the extension of electric railways into the 
interior; the drainage and reclamation of swamp lands; the construc- 
tion of modern highways and good roads; the development of oil fields; 
and the increased activity in mining. In the increase of manufactur- 
ing, the inexhaustible supply of raw materials, cheap fuel, and power, 
continually improving transportation facilities, and the proximity of 
ready markets have been noteworthy factors. Tracing the record of 
the growth of agriculture and horticulture during the past decade, the 
public economist finds the basis for the expansion that has been made. 

California, in extending a beckoning hand to those of less favored 
region's imbued with something of the wanderlust, has always pointed to 



THE THIRTY-FIRST STATE. 153 

its public school system as one of the fundamental bulwarks of its 
strength. It is reported that California has a larger percentage of 
population attending high schools and universities than any other State. 
Every county has adequate school facilities ; notably, the school system 
of the rural districts has been well developed, the people always 
responding liberally to the call for support for the schools. Where the 
population is small the high school courses have been concentrated in 
union schools. Technical schools, business colleges, and private educa- 
tional institutions are numerous and many have attained a reputation 
not confined to their immediate neighborhood. To train teachers for 
their profession the State has established five normal schools at — from 
north to south — Chico, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, and San 
Diego. At the forefront of the educational system of the State stand 
the two great universities, the University of California, a State institu- 
tion, and the Leland Stanford Junior University. The former has affil- 
iated technical branches scattered all over the State. Recently the Uni- 
versity Farm was established in Yolo County, and there short courses 
in various phases of practical agriculture are given for the benefit of 
farmers or students. 

Free public libraries are to be found even in many of the small towns 
of California, and under the fostering guidance and encouragement of 
the California State Library new libraries are constantly being estab- 
lished and improvements and extensions made in others. 

As in other connections the prevalence of a broad and enlightened 
spirit is a marked characteristic of the religious life of Calif ornians. 
and churches for every denomination and every creed exert their whole- 
some influences in the community life. 

Deservedly has California attained the distinction of being the best 
advertised State in the Union. The State's products — wheat and 
barley, oranges and lemons, grapes and prunes, nuts and apples, beans 
and corn, gold and oil, butter and cheese, lumber and manufactures (a 
complete list would be a long one) — have brought the name of Cali- 
fornia into the home, in America and abroad, for years. Greater than 
the fame which has come through those things which go to market to 
swell the nation's commerce is the renown that California has won in 
every land through its climate. Not only has it become the winter rally - 
ing-point for people of means, but a spreading knowledge of California 
conditions is making it an all-the-year-round rendezvous for tourists. 
Along its twelve hundred miles of ocean-fronting coast, or in its valleys 
and mountains, recreation and relaxation and refreshed vigor are sought 
and secured in full measure. The mineral springs alone would bring 
thousands to California were there no other attractions. With an 
appreciating realization of the wealth of these endowments, California 
has done much and is now doing much more to provide for the accommo- 
dation, comfort, and pleasure of the visitor of. to use a happily coined 
word, tourident. he who comes to see and admire, but, ultimately, stays 
to live and enjoy. 

Perhaps no stronger point could be made in California's favor than 
that those who set out on journeys to the outside, be it for business or 
pleasure, on a first trip or one of many, to the east or to the south, or 
to the north or over the seas, come back to the native haven better Cali- 
fornians, better in the fuller knowledge and deeper appreciation of all 
that is good about California. 



154 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



SAN FRANCISCO— THE REBUILT METROPOLIS. 



By NORMAN F. D'EVELYN. 



In the history of the to-morrow when the deeds of the to-day may be 
measured in their true aspect through the adjusting perspective of time, 
the story of the building of the greater San Francisco will be cited to 
show of what stuff were made the men and women of twentieth century 
America. The new San Francisco stands to-day an imposing monument 
to the courage, the resourcefulness and the perseverance of the Amer- 
ican people. What has been done bodes well for the future progress and 
development not only of the city and the State, but of the Nation, for 
it demonstrates the potency and capacity of the sturdy stock of the land 
we live in. Weavers of the inspiring tale have asserted that the rehabili- 
tation of San Francisco — keeping in mind the magnitude of the work 
and the obstacles that had to be overcome — surpasses in rapidity and 
substantiality any similar achievement in ancient or modern times. 
Something beyond individual consideration has stimulated the people 
of San Francisco to restore their homes and businesses on a better basis 
than before ; for when the crisis came the spirit of civic pride was inten- 
sified many fold in the universal determination that a grander city 
should rise on the peninsula of the Golden Gate — finer in every respect 
than the old. 

Obviously, the stranger has been in a better position to judge of 
"things as they are" than has the resident. His viewpoint has given 
him a broader survey of the situation ; his judgment has been less liable 
to diversion by phases of occurrences that have been merely side issues, 
because he has stood aloof, an impartial observer. Through newspaper 
interviews and articles sent to home papers, visitors have expressed 
themselves in decided fashion, and the pith of their statements has been 
that San Francisco has performed splendidly a herculean task. They 
have marveled at the magnitude of the situation that had to be faced, 
saying that it exceeded in reality even the most highly-colored accounts 
they had read; and they have been astonished at what has been done 
in less than three years. 

Some idea of the point of view of the outsider has been gained by the 
resident who has had occasion to leave the city, and on returning has 
been startled by the decided progress made during his absence, even 
if it was of but a month or two's duration. On every hand he has seen 
some evidence of work done ; here a cleaned lot where once it was covered 
with twisted masses of iron and steel ; at another point symmetrical steel 
uprights and girders where his last observations had noted only a 
yawningly empty space ; or perhaps he found on his return the granite 
or stone facing in place on some massive structure, covering the sturdy 
columns which he had seen put in place when he had passed by as he 
was leaving for his trip. It may be that he traversed a smoothly bitu- 
minized thoroughfare where before a broken-up street hampered traffic. 
Perchance his attention was attracted to a busy scene in the interior of 



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EBUII/T SAN FRANCISCO-CALIFORNIA STREET, THE FINANCIAL CENTER. 




REBUILT SAX FRANCISCO— MARKET STREET. FROM EDDY AND FIFTH, 

LOOKING EASTWARD. 



158 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

a bank or department store on sites which he remembered were in an 
uncompleted state. Again and again demonstration has been afforded 
of the amazement of returning business men who during their temporary 
absence even followed the trend of affairs at home through the press 
reports. It is not extraordinary that those who have been actors in the 
center of the stage of the unprecedented drama have been too intensely 
wrapped up in the concerns of the day to give thought to the full 
breadth of it all, and that their impression-dulling familiarity took 
little heed of each advance. 

Lest the pen should seem to the reader unfamiliar with the situation 
in San Francisco to trespass beyond the limits of credulity, resort is 
made to matter-of-fact, incontrovertible figures. 

In place of the 28,188 buildings, valued at $105,000,000— figures com- 
piled by a committee appointed for the purpose after a careful exam- 
ination of the books of the assessor — covering the 508 blocks in the 
affected district, there stand to-day new structures of the character out- 
lined in the following table of building permits granted from April 18, 
1906, to January 31, 1909, (the records are for the entire city, no 
segregation having been made, but of course by far the larger number of 
permits, and those for the big structures, were for building in the 
down-town area) : 

Class. Number. Value. 

A 77 $18,649,982 

B 108 7,949,831 

C 1,309 40,297,635 

Frame 11,804 48,618,113 

Alterations 5,929 9,234,769 

Total 19,227 $124,750,330 

Adding 15 per cent for undervaluation $143,462,879 

Substracting the number and value of the permits for alterations and 
repairs (though in reality "alterations" often meant virtually new 
buildings, so extensive was the rehabilitation and remodeling necessary) 
and adding the customary fifteen per cent to cover added cost after the 
issuance of permits, a percentage regarded as entirely conservative, it is 
found that 13,298 new buildings have been built or are in process or 
contemplation of building, valued at $132,842,895 (including the added 
fifteen per cent). This gives an average value of $9,989 per building, 
while the average value of the 28,188 buildings previously occupying the 
district was but $3,732, thus showing a gain in valuation of the new 
structures of 167 per cent. Some months ago, on investigation, it was 
found that the floor space in the new buildings was greater than that 
of the aggregate floor-space area in the old. If we carry out the aver- 
age valuation of the new buildings for 28,188 buildings, it is found that 
the aggregate value would reach $281,569,932, though it is to be borne 
in mind that the new buildings in many cases occupy larger ground areas 
than the old and that it would take less than that number of buildings 
to cover the district. 

Estimates of population indicate substantial growth. At the begin- 
ning of 1906 San Francisco had a population of half a million. An 
estimate made shortly after April 18th of that year placed the popula- 
tion at 175,000. In November, 1907, when the first directory of the 
new city was issued, it was computed that the population was 479,635. 



160 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

Just a year later a careful estimate showed a population of 507,301, a 
gain in a year of 5.7 per cent. Further, it is estimated that from 640,000 
at the beginning of 1906, the population of the San Francisco bay 
cities has grown to 807,000, an increase of 167,000 in three years, while, 
there is now within fifteen miles of the city hall of San Francisco ail 
aggregate population of 900,000. 

Turning to bank clearings of San Francisco, always regarded as a 
register of general business conditions, the following yearly totals tell 
their own story : 

1900 $1,029,582,594 78 

1905 1,S34,549,788 51 

1906 1,998,400,779 06 

1907 2,133,882,625 80 

1908 1,757,151,850 08 

Since 1896 there has been an uninterrupted increase year by year in 
the annual clearances, with the exception of 1908, and apropos it is 
hardly necessary to explain that the cause of the falling off in that year 
was the financial stringency which affected the entire country, and from 
which California and the rest of the Union has recovered. It is of 
interest to note that from one source that keeps in close touch with 
financial conditions comes a prediction that the clearings for 1909 will 
exceed $2,400,000,000. In seven years between 1900 and 1907 the clear- 
ings more than doubled. 

If it were desired to supplement the indications of the clearances and 
substantiate the obvious growth and progress which these figures show, 
reference might be made to the records of the annual receipts of the San 
Francisco post office, which tell an equally eloquent story : 

1900 $1,052,286 00 

1905. 1,772,867 60 

1906 1,509,595 91 

1907 1,787,694 03 

1908 2,011,090 16 

The receipts, it will be observed, practically doubled in eight years' 
time. The 1908 figures showed a gain of 121/2 per cent over the receipts 
of the year before, particularly impressive in view of the abnormal con- 
ditions that depressed business in 1908. 

That the statements made to the effect that San Francisco, despite 
the fact that it was in process of building, was probably less affected 
than any other city by the crisis which depressed commercial America 
at the close of 1907 were based on something more than general observa- 
tion is indicated in the following statistics gleaned from the San Fran- 
cisco Real Estate Circular: 

Real Estate Sales. Mortgages. Releases. 

Year. No. Value. No. Value. No. 

1905 9572 $74,926,065 6746 $35,016,855 4751 

1906 8947 68,064,300 5488 35,825,6S0 4660 

1907 S204 31,816,150 6401 44,583,753 . 4134 

1908 7418 31,083,571 6257 41.841,729 4541 

The value of the releases is not obtainable. It is notable that while 
the mortgage records of 1908 were less than those of 1907, there was a 
greater number of releases in the former year. Attention should 
also be called to the fact that while the value of the real estate sales was 




11 



162 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

approximately as large in 1908 as in the preceding year, the number of 
sales was considerably smaller, showing that relatively bigger transac- 
tions were made in 1908 than in 1907. 

Bearing in mind that an abnormal quantity of structural materials 
were brought into San Francisco after reconstruction began, it is not 
surprising to find that the commerce of the port for the last fiscal year 
was not up to that of the preceding twelvemonth. For the year ending 
June 30, 1908, the harbor receipts, as shown in the biennial report of the 
Board of State Harbor Commissioners, were $1,101,949.67 ; for the pre- 
ceding fiscal year the total receipts were $1,241,284.96. Customs 
receipts totaled $6,816,398.40 during the year ending December 28, 
1908, against $8,124,715.38 for the previous year. Plans have been 
matured for comprehensive improvements and additions to the harbor 
facilities which will anticipate the tremendous increase in the commerce 
which will inevitably follow the completion of the Panama Canal, which 
is centering attention on the Pacific as the theater of the world's com- 
mercial activities during the twentieth century. 

No better indication has been given of the solidity of San Francisco's 
position than the overwhelming vote last May in favor of bonds for 
$18,200,000 for public improvements, including an auxiliary w r ater sup- 
ply system for fire protection, sewer system, garbage disposal system, 
and schoolhouses and public buildings. When $3,280,000 of these bonds 
were offered for sale in September, 101 bids were received, aggre- 
gating over seventy million dollars, and the issue was disposed of for 
$3,514,520, a premium of seven per cent. The successful bidders dis- 
posed of the bonds "over night," so great was the demand. Two thirds 
of them were purchased with California money, and in this connection 
it is timely to say that only several millions of outside money has helped 
in the reconstruction of the city, the bulk of the capital having been 
local. Including the portion of the last issue that has been sold, the 
entire debt of the city and county is $6,729,100; within the charter 
limit the municipality has a borrowing capacity of nearly fifty million. 
The assessed valuation of the city in 1908 was $454,332,820, jumping 
from $429,632,843, or more than five per cent, in a year. Twice that per- 
centage of increase was registered in the municipal revenue, $9,834,531 
in 1908 and $8,914,304 in 1907. 

After the authorization of the bond issue the improvements provided 
for were begun and work has been pushed forward vigorously since. 
In addition to the bond election in May, another was held in the fol- 
lowing November, and by a six to one vote the citizens of San Francisco 
provided for the issuance of $600,000 bonds for the purchase of water 
rights and other preliminary steps to secure a water supply from the 
Sierras. 

To-day San Francisco stands serenely confident of the fulfillment of 
the destiny which her brave people, even in the days of crisis, regarded 
as inevitably assured. Here on the Pacific is the most modern, most 
sanitary, and withal the most unique and individual and cosmospolitan 
city in the United States. Never was San Francisco more attractive to 
visitors, for hotel accommodations are more ample and more sumptuous, 
with a wider range of prices, than ever before. Within the city and 
across the picturesque bay of San Francisco are the many points of 
interest which week by week lure the city dweller to the number of 



164 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

thousands away from things metropolitan, and on every hand is to be 
found evidence of that spirit which has made Californian hospitality 
distinctive to all who have sojourned within its borders. 

The focus for the vast wealth of the yet undeveloped back country, 
the distributing center for the products of the Orient, the metropolis 
of the Western Americas, the Occidental gateway of the United States, 
San Francisco triumphant has begun its new era. 



PAST AND PRESENT OF THE FRANCISCAN MIS- 
SIONS OF CALIFORNIA. 



By Hon. J. R. KNOWLAND, 
Member of Congress, President of California Historic Landmarks League. 



Within recent years there has been a very perceptible awakening of 
interest in the Franciscan missions, a subject which forms a unique and 
fascinating chapter of California's picturesque and romantic history. 
As a result, organizations have been formed in both Northern and 
Southern California with the object in view of preserving and restoring 
the remaining missions — landmarks around which cluster a flood of 
historic memories of the pastoral days of long ago. 

But two links are missing in that chain of missions, twenty-one in 
number, which stretched from San Diego in the far south to Sonoma 
in the north. San Rafael Arcangel and Santa Cruz missions have 
entirely disappeared, not an adobe brick or tile remaining to designate 
the former locations of these one-time nourishing establishments. Of the 
remaining nineteen, Soledad mission, in Monterey county, is a hopeless 
ruin, the rains of each succeeding winter gradually leveling the f< j w 
desolate adobe walls, pathetic reminders of pristine glory. 

After practically a century of neglect, during which time the hand of 
vandalism was not stayed, Californians are fortunate, now that public 
sentiment is aroused, that more of these ancient piles are not shapeless, 
crumbling masses beyond human power to restore. To-day eighteen of 
the California missions are in a condition to be preserved for posterity, 
but in a number of instances the chapels have entirely disappeared, 
other buildings, however, which formed a part of the respective estab- 
lishments, having withstood the ravages of time. 

The Order of Franciscans, when they importuned Carlos III. for the 
necessary authority to plant the cross in Alta California, were actuated 
by naught but pure and unselfish motives. When at last Spain granted 
the permission so long coveted, the dispelling of the darkness of pagan- 
ism was by no means the controlling influence which prompted the 
action of the Spanish court. The importance of extending its dominion 
over the north had long been realized. The existence of the desirable 
ports of San Diego and Monterey was known. Had these California 
ports been occupied they would have been found most serviceable to the 
Manila galloons, richly laden and often sadly in need of repairs and 



FRANCISCAN MISSIONS OF CALIFORNIA. 



L65 



fresh provisions, which sailed from the west by the northern route. 
Pirates would sometimes temporarily occupy these ports while lying in 
wait for the Spanish galleons. 

The fear of Russian encroachments also exerted an influence in arous- 
ing the Spanish authorities to the necessity of occupying California — a 
fear which was well grounded, as events later proved, for in 1812 the 
Russian government established a fort known as Ross, within the present 
county of Sonoma. Remains of Fort Ross still exist. 

Military as well as spiritual was to be the first civilized occupation 
of California. Both presidios and missions were to be established. At 
San Diego in 1769 the first mission was founded by the president of the 
Franciscans, Father Junipero Serra. Land and sea expeditions — two 




SANTA BARBARA MISSION. 



of each — had been fitted out in Baja (Lower) California, and it was 
upon the arrival of the last of these several detachments that the cross 
was planted and the spiritual conquest of Upper California begun. 

In 1774 San Diego de Alcala mission was moved six miles from 
the original site, the location of the present ruins. R. H. Dana, Jr.. 
in his "Two Years Before the Mast," tells of a visit he paid to the 
mission in 1834: "After a pleasant ride of a couple of miles we saw 
the white walls of the mission. There was something decidedly striking 
in its appearance : a number of irregular buildings, connected with one 
another and disposed in the form of a hollow square, with a church at one 
end rising above the rest, and with an immense iron cross at the top." 
Continuing his description of the buildings as they appeared after 
they had been practically deserted, Dana adds: "Just outside of the 
buildings, and under the walls, stood twenty or thirty small huts, built 



166 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

of straw and branches of trees. Entering a gateway we drove into the 
open square, in which the stillness of death reigned. On one side was 
the church; on another a range of high buildings with grated windows; 
a third was a range of smaller buildings, and the fourth seemed to be 
little more than a high connecting wall/' 

The padres of San Diego mission were the pioneers of irrigation. 
A few miles above the mission are the ruins of a dam built fully one 
hundred and thirty years ago to supply the mission with water. This 
dam was thirteen feet in thickness and covered with cement that became 
as hard as stone. 

Only a portion of the chapel of San Diego mission remains. The 
Landmarks Club of Southern California has expended $500 in safe- 
guarding the few walls of this, the mother mission. 

San Carlos Borromeo (Carmelo) mission was the second to be founded. 
The first land expedition under the leadership of Portala was unsuc- 
cessful in locating Monterey, continuing north and discovering San 
Francisco Bay. This expedition returned to San Diego. Undaunted 
by failure, a second expedition, composed of a land and sea detachment, 
was later fitted out. Both divisions arrived but eight days apart, and 
upon the shores of placid Monterey Bay the royal colors were unfurled, 
the cross planted, and under the spreading branches of a great oak, 
mass was said by Father Serra on the 3d of June, 1770. A year later 
a more suitable site was chosen near the bay and river Carmelo. The 
mission is now known both as San Carlos and Carmelo. 

In volume II of "A Voyage 'Round the World," by J. F. G. De La 
Perouse, appears a very valuable and interesting description of mission 
life in 1786, during which year this noted traveler visited San Carlos 
mission. As he approached the mission establishment he was met by 
the prasident, who was clothed in his ceremonial habiliments. "Before 
we entered the church we passed through a square in which the Indians 
of both sexes were ranged in a line." Within the church were noticed 
pictures of hell and of paradise. The house of the missionaries, as 
well as the different storehouses, were opposite the church. The Indian 
village, consisting of about fifty huts, which served for seven hundred 
and forty persons of both sexes, stood on the right and were most 
wretched. La Perouse furnishes an entertaining description of the 
daily routine of mission life : 

"The proselytes are collected by the sound of a bell; a missionary 
leads them to work, to the church, and to all their exercises. The day 
consists in general of seven hours labor and two hours prayer; but 
there are four or five hours prayer on Sundays and festivals, which are 
entirely consecrated to rest and divine worship. The Indians, as well 
as the missionaries, rise with the sun, and immediately go to prayers, 
which last for an hour. During this time three large boilers are set 
on the fire for cooking a kind of soup, made of barley meal, the grain 
of which has been roasted previous to its being ground. It is called 
atole. They eat it without either butter or salt. Each hut sends for 
the allowance of all its inhabitants in a bowl made of the bark of a 
tree." 

San Carlos mission has been "restored," a peaked shingle roof 
destroying the original beautiful lines of the chapel. Within the church 
rest the remains of President Junipero Serra. but it was not until 1882 



FRANCISCAN MISSIONS OF CALIFORNIA. 



167 



that his resting-place was definitely located and suitably inscribed. 
In the vicinity of the chapel are a number of ruined walls. 

One of the most beautiful and less frequently visited missions is 
located in Monterey County, twenty-six miles from King City. This is 
mission San Antonio de Padua, a most picturesque ruin, and formerly 
one of the most extensive of the mission establishments. For years it 
was neglected, with no one to stay the hand of the vandal. The mission 
stands alone, its crumbling walls and deserted buildings appearing as 
if untouched since the departure of the padres and neophytes years ago. 
In 1903 the California Historic Landmarks League began the work of 
restoration, but the funds at hand proved insufficient to complete the 
reroofing of the chapel, and for two winters the great adobe walls, six 




SAN GABRIEL ARCANGEL, LOS ANGELES COUNTY. 



feet in thickness, were exposed to the elements, much damage resulting. 
After great effort a few hundred dollars were raised in 1905 and work 
resumed, but with this small sum it was only possible to erect a perma- 
nent roof over the vestibule. Unfortunately, however, the earthquake 
of 1906 wrought great damage, completely demolishing the newly 
erected walls and seriously injuring other portions of the mission. Con- 
ditions were most discouraging and the officers of the league debated as 
to the advisability of further attempting to save this old landmark, but 
the determining factor was the knowledge that San Antonio was one 
of the last remaining missions in a condition to be restored, and that 
another winter's rains would leave it in a hopeless ruin. With funds 
received from the Grand Parlor of the Native Sons, in June, 1906, the 
rebuilding of the walls commenced, and the rains of the winter of 1906-7 
found all but a section of the chapel walls protected by a permanent 
roof, which unfinished portion was completed before the winter of 1907-8. 



168 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

Mission San Gabriel Arcangel (the Archangel Gabriel) is located 
about ten miles from Los Angeles and is one of the most frequently 
visited of the missions. The chapel alone remains and is in good state 
of repair. San Gabriel was one of the richest of the missions, possess- 
ing at one period a hundred thousand head of cattle, besides horses, 
mules and sheep. The extensive gardens produced oranges, citrons, 
pears, figs and grapes in abundance. From four hundred to six hun- 
dred barrels of wine were made annually. As an example of the skill 
of the Indian neophytes, under their able instructors, we are told that 
one of the first vessels launched in California, a schooner of about sixty 
tons, was framed at San Gabriel and fitted for subsequent completion 
at San Pedro. Every stick of timber, after being hewn and fitted, was 
brought down to the beach upon carts, a distance of over thirty miles. 

San Luis Obispo was the fifth mission, and was founded in 1772. 
Its present appearance is disappointing, for a modern church steeple 
has been added, removing, as has well been stated, every vestige of the 
days of long ago. It was at this mission that the use of tiles for roof- 
ing was first adopted, frequent fires having demonstrated the useless- 
ness of thatched tule roofs. 

San Francisco de Asis (Dolores) mission was founded in the memo- 
rable year 1776. The name Dolores was derived from the lagoon 
Dolores, upon the banks of which the mission was located — a lagoon 
which has long since disappeared. The buildings of Dolores mission 
formed two sides of a square without any apparent intention of com- 
pleting the quadrangle. There were buildings for melting tallow and 
for making soap ; smith shops, carpenter shops, and magazines for stor- 
ing tallow, etc., Kotzebue speaks of the church orchestra he heard when 
he visited this mission in 1812, which consisted of a violoncello, a violin 
and two flutes; these instruments were played by little half-naked 
Indians who were very often out of tune. 

The most beautiful of the old mission churches was the chapel of 
San Juan Capistrano (St. John Capistran). This imposing edifice was 
erected under the supervision of an imported master mason. It was 
built of stone and mortar, the stones not being hewn, but of regular 
size and shape. Over nine years were occupied in its building. It was 
cruciform in shape and was 146 feet in length by 28 feet in width. It 
has been stated that this structure could not be duplicated to-day. 
with a railroad at its doors to bring materials, for $100,000. It was 
surmounted by a bell tower 125 feet in height. This church was 
destroyed by a great earthquake in 1812, and was never rebuilt, ruins 
of the altar end still standing. This great temblor visited California 
on a Sunday morning, unfortunately, when mass was being celebrated 
beneath the vaulted roof of the great church, and forty were crushed 
to death. A number of the buildings of San Juan Capistrano still 
stand. The Southern California Landmarks Club has restored with 
tiles 387 feet in length of the principal building, and with gravel and 
asphalt an area of 5,250 square feet of corridors. It has buttressed the 
crumbling stone pillars which support all that is left of the great 
church. 

While the exterior of Santa Clara mission is quite modern, pains- 
taking effort has been put forth to have the interior of the modern 
chapel conform to the old. This is particularly true of the decorated 



FRANCISCAN MISSIONS OP CALIFORNIA. 



169 



ceiling above the sanctuary, each board in the old ceiling having been 
carefully taken down, numbered, and later made use of in the new 
church. A portion of the sanctuary rail was made from the beams of 
the old chapel. The old adobe walls still constitute a part of the build- 
ing adjoining the chapel and opening into the patio. Many interesting 
and valuable mission relics are carefully preserved in a room set aside 
for this purpose. 

The two links to be next added to the chain of missions were within 
the present cities of Ventura and Santa Barbara. The first, San 
Buenaventura, was founded in 1782 ; the second, Santa Barbara, in 
1786. Civilization knocks at the very doors of both these establish- 




SAN LUIS REY, SAN DIEGO COUNTY. 



ments. Business housas surround the mission at Ventura, and an 
electric car line terminates at the threshold of the best preserved and 
most widely known of the California missions, lying in the foothills of 
Santa Barbara. When Santa Barbara mission flourished there were 
within the enclosing walls two hundred and fifty adobe buildings. 

La Purisima Concepcion (the Immaculate Conception), fast being 
despoiled by the elements, is near Lompoc, Santa Barbara County. 
Steps are now being taken to restore the one remaining building. 

Santa Cruz (Holy Cross) mission exists only in memory, but v, 
flourishing city bears the name of this former mission by the sea. 

Soledad mission, or more properly, Neustra Senora de Soledad (Our 
Lady of Solitude) , with its few crumbling walls, pleads more eloquently 
the cause of restoration than the power of words. These ruins are 
within the present county of Monterey, several miles from the town of 
Soledad. 



170 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

The two missions which followed, San Jose de Guadalupe and San 
Juan Bautista, are not frequently visited, located as they are some 
miles from the railroad. Nevertheless, they are well worth a visit, par- 
ticularly the latter, situated within the quaint old town of San Juan, 
in San Benito County. 

Poor old mission San Jose ! Formerly one of the most flourishing, 
little now remains to recall its past glory. The chapel has disappeared, 
a single, but picturesque, adobe building remaining. 

A modern church steeple was years ago added to San Juan Bautista 's 
chapel, but even the elements rebelled. A furious gale one winter's 
night leveled this hideous addition, the remainder of the mission escaping 
unharmed. The well-cared-for garden at San Juan, its beautiful arches 
and numerous relies, are attractive features. 

From the car windows on the Southern Pacific coast road between 
San Francisco and Los Angeles, a view is had of San Miguel mission. 
The exterior is plain, but the interior most interesting. 

With the exception of San Antonio mission, San Fernando Rey de 
Espana, twenty miles north of Los Angeles, is one of the most inter- 
esting, owing to its untouched state of decay and the acres of sur- 
rounding ruins. The Southern California Landmarks Club has reroofed 
the chapel and monastery of San Fernando. 

The most prosperous of all the missions, and one of the most impos- 
ing architecturally, was San Luis Rey de Francia, four miles east of 
Oceanside, in San Diego County, a small station on the line of the 
Santa Fe railroad. This mission contained at one time 2,869 neophytes, 
nearly one thousand more than any other mission. An idea of the 
extent of this mission can best be gained by quoting from Alfred Robin- 
son, an early American traveler and writer, who visited the establish- 
ment in 1829. Be states: "The buildings occupied the sides of a large 
area, eighty or ninety yards square, in the center of which was a foun- 
tain with a constant supply of pure fresh water. The buildings around 
this court were divided into separate apartments for the missionaries, 
major domos, storerooms, workshops, hospital, and rooms for unmarried 
females. There was also a guard house and storehouses for the grain. : ' 
To-day the imposing church is all that remains, with the exception of 
the beautiful arches, the original number of which was thirty-two, 
which were ornamented with latticed railings. These arches supported 
the long corridor, back of which was the square inclosure. or patio, 
mentioned by Robinson. 

Three more missions were founded, and then the chain was complete, 
stretching from San Diego to Sonoma. Santa Inez, after Saint Agnes, 
was founded in 1804. It is located within the present county of Santa 
Barbara, twenty miles from Gaviota, a station on the Southern Pacific 
coast line. The chapel is free from architectural ornament. The 
monastery with its arched corridor still remains. 

San Rafael Arcangel, like Santa Cruz mission, has disappeared, its 
location being within the present town of San Rafael, in Marin County. 

San Francisco de Solano, the last to be founded, never enjoyed great 
prosperity. This mission is within the present historic old town of 
Sonoma. The remaining buildings belonging to this mission, not being 
the property of the church, were recently purchased with a portion of 



FRANCISCAN MISSIONS OF CALIFORNIA. 



171 



a landmarks fund raised by a San Francisco newspaper, and have been 
turned over to the State of California. The date of founding was 1823. 

It is difficult at this present day to fully realize the vast extent of 
the mission establishments when they were in their zenith. Each mis- 
sion was practically a city by itself, and not merely, as many now 
imagine, a church within which the Indians received religious instruc- 
tion. The maximum number of neophytes at the least prosperous of 
the missions, Santa Cruz, was 523; at the most prosperous of the estab- 
lishments, San Luis Rey, 2,869 ; the average for the twenty-one mis- 
sions being over 1,300, a total of nearly 28,000, between 1800 and 1830. 
the golden age of the missions. These untutored savages were trained 
in all the handicrafts necessary for a self-supporting community. 

When in 1834 the robbery of the missions commenced, known under 




SAN ANTONIO DE PADUA, MONTEREY COUNTY. 



the diplomatic term of secularization, their downfall was rapid. They 
were sold for beggarly sums and the vast tracts of land confiscated. 
In a number of instances these sales were later set aside by the United 
States Government, when California came into its possession, and the 
majority of the remaining missions are still the property. of the Catholic 
Church. 

The Franciscan missionaries were the original pioneers of California, 
sowing the first seeds of civilization, establishing the first permanent 
settlements in Alta California, and enduring hardships almost beyond 
human comprehension. In restoring the missions, Californians are not 
alone paying deserved honor to the sacred memories of those devoted 
padres, but are preserving the most imposing landmarks, both histor- 
icallv and architecturally, that exist within the United States. 



172 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



CALIFORNIA'S CALL TO THE IMMIGRANT. 



By JOHN P. IRISH. 



It is not pretended that California supplies any specific from the 
wealth of her soil and sunshine that will cure unthrift, bad judgment, 
and lack of faculty, or make of the do-less a doer. But there is legiti- 
mate basis for the belief that here the average man may work in greater 
comfort more days in the year, and earn his bread easier, than under the 
conditions that prevail in any other state or country. 

California is a winterless land. No deep frosts chill the ground ; vine 
and fig tree do not have to thaw out as a preliminary to going into busi- 
ness as fruit-bearers. All stone fruits, and the fig, pomegranate, 
orange, lemon, lime, pear, and apple are precocious bearers. The peach 
will bloom the second year from the pit. On the Mediterranean the 
olive fruits meagerly at seventeen years of age; here it bears a full crop 
at seven. In the East he must be a young man who plants a tree 
expecting to repose in its shade or to eat its fruit. Here old men may 
plant, and surely expect to enjoy the results. The growth of animals 
is not checked here by the withering winter, and a yearling horse is the 
equal of any Eastern two-year-old. 

But, it may be asked, is not this precocity of animate and inanimate 
life compensated by early decay? The answer is, No. That rule has 
here its exception. The peach tree that blooms before the shell of the 
pit that bore it is decayed, bears on for thirty years, or more. Olive 
trees that furnished oil for the sacraments of the old Mission Fathers 
a hundred years ago, shade the graves of the gardeners who planted 
them, and ripen their yearly crop with unabated energy. 

But men fail in California? Yes. Men who buy land and hire it 
planted and worked, running it on the absentee landlord system, fail 
here and everywhere. So do men fail who run manufactures and trade 
on the same system. But men who take here only so much land as they 
have the means and the ability to conserve, and can properly till and 
tend with the labor of their own families, do not fail ; for here Nature 
helps the industrious hand, and nowhere else does intelligent labor add 
as much to the value of the land, for the reason that here Nature holds 
one handle of the plow. 

The advantage that California has in climate where growth and pro- 
duction go on without pause is seen when the farmer finds his vines and 
trees, fields and truck-patch, producing something for the market every 
month in the year. 

What effect does the climate have on the cost of living? Where the 
pastures yield natural forage, green or dry, every day ; where the water 
never freezes ; where vegetable growth goes on forever, and the storage 
of vegetables for winter use is never necessary, because they are growing 
and fresh daily, it is natural that the cost of living should be less than 
where the summer and fall are spent in hard labor to store food and fuel 
against the long winter that suspends production. Beef and mutton 
from the ranges ; fish from the waters ; fruits and vegetables reach mar- 
ket here in a condition for use more cheaply than elsewhere. 



California's call to the immigrant. 173 

The economic value of climate should be considered in selecting a 
home: first, in respect to the health of the family, and, second, in 
respect to the number of days yearly in which your vocation may be 
followed. California, it may be said, has no endemic diseases. Except 
in the high Sierra mountains the snow does not impede outdoor occupa- 
tion. There are no tornadoes or chilling blasts, nor are there any sudden 
changes in temperature which imperil life. The heat in the valleys, 
though high as indicated by the thermometer, is not excessive enough 
to prevent labor in the fields on the hottest days ; because the air being 
dry, the latent heat of the body is rapidly eliminated, and the blood is 
kept cool. It will bear repetition that every day in the year is a working 
day. It follows that it costs less to live in California than in any other 
state in the Union, and the comfort of life is greater. 

The intending settler should fix firmly in his mind the topography of 
California. We have a winter season called "wet," and a summer sea- 
son called "dry." In the winter months the average rainfall is about 
twenty-five inches, distributed through four months of the year, and 
this is ample to insure abundant crops. California is 850 miles long. 
Her coast line extends as far as from Boston to Savannah. At the same 
altitude the climate is practically the same in the north as in the south 
of the State; hence San Diego in the south and the country 600 miles 
to the north produce identically the same crops. On the west slope of 
the Sierra Nevada Mountains, at an elevation of from 400 to 1,000 feet. 
is the famous foothill warm belt, stretching from Shasta to Kern County, 
and noted for the superiority of its fruits, including the fig, orange, 
lemon, and olive. 

There is one great valley ; its south end rests on the Tehachapi moun- 
tains, and its north end is lifted up by Mount Shasta. This great 
trough sags in the middle, and the rivers that run from each end escape 
into San Francisco Bay through a common delta. From these rivers 
we name each end of the valley, thus giving the impression that there 
are two valleys. The north end of the valley is the valley of the Sacra- 
mento, with an area of 4,000,000 acres. The south end is the valley of 
the San Joaquin, with 7,000,000 acres. This valley is the seat of 
wheat and raisin culture. On the west of this great valley rises the 
Coast Range, in which lie a number of fertile and extensive valleys, such 
as Santa Maria, Sonoma, Santa Clara, Vaca, and Suisun. In most of 
these fruit growing is the principal industry. The slopes of the Coast 
Range toward the sea and the high Sierras, are favorable for dairying. 
To some extent, therefore, the settler is guided in the selection of his 
residence by the business he desires to pursue. 

We expend annually over $7,000,000 for the maintenance of our public 
schools. The State is entirely out of debt. The financial report shows 
that the State debt is about $2,500,000, but this is only a form of state- 
ment. There is that amount of State bonds, but the bonds are owned by 
the State and are covered into the state school fund. The State pays 
the interest to the state school fund, which is annually apportioned to 
the public schools. If California has a reputation for public extrava- 
gance it is undeserved, and the intending immigrant need not hesitate 
for fear his interests will suffer by reason of high taxation, due to the 
waste of public money. 



174 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

It is not given to all men to be wealthy ; but every original fortune in 
this country was founded in some man 's determination to make a living 
and provide for life's decline when labor is impossible. Immigration 
flows where a living may be made under the most favorable conditions. 
The variety of resources in California invites an equal variety of tastes, 
training, and experience. If a man desires to mine, along the western 
flank of the Sierra Nevada Mountains for 800 miles is the world 's great- 
est gold field. It has already yielded $1,000,000,000 from the merest 
scratching of its surface. 

Horticulture here rises to the rank of a profession. Our soil and 
climate are so adapted to it that fruits from every zone may be grown. 
The clemency of our climate and its halcyon quality invite enterprise 
and ingenuity to experiment in all horticultural refinements. No equal 
area of the earth's surface has produced profitably a variety of the 
fruits of tree, vine, and shrub equal to that of California. 

The beginning of all successful manufacture is in the transmutation 
of the most abundant raw material into more merchantable or more 
permanent forms for transportation and use at a distance. The State 
is not yet sufficiently supplied with plants for drying and canning our 
surplus fruits, or for reducing them to fine jellies, jams, pickles, pastes, 
etc. Immigrants who have a taste for these arts will find here a grow- 
ing field. 

No place presents better facilities for variety farming as it is prac- 
ticed in the Mississippi Valley. With a small tract of land which may 
be cared for by the labor of an ordinary family, with some orchard or 
vineyard bordered with almond and English walnut trees, producing 
some alfalfa and grain, and carrying some cows, pigs, and chickens, the 
owner will find something produced for market every day in the year, 
while his family living will nearly all come direct from the soil he tills. 

The reader will find the subjects herein generalized treated in greater 
detail in other chapters of this book. The treatment is conservative, 
and is intended to invite that careful personal examination which the 
prudent man makes who desires to better his condition by changing his 
abode. 



fiJa'10 



AUG 2 1909 



LEJa'IO 






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